HHV-6 infection during pregnancy and spontaneous abortion

Pityriasis rosea: An update with a critical appraisal of its possible herpesviral etiology

“…It may be either hereditary if HHV 6 is integrated into the human chromosomes or it may result from the virus crossing the placenta. 102,103 Other possible modes of transmission are contact with the maternal genital tract and via breast milk. 104 In addition, HHV 6 may be transmitted by blood transfusion or organ transplantation.…”

Congenital infections with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) and human herpesvirus 7 (HHV7)

“…Such has been suggested by the detection of HHV6 and HHV7 DNA in the genital tracts of women, and by HHV6 DNA in a few fetuses, placentas, and umbilical cord bloods. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Information on intrauterine transmission of HHV7 is lacking. We thus prospectively studied in a large sample of healthy children the occurrence of HHV6 and HHV7 congenital infections, and whether congenital infections in comparison with the ubiquitous primary infections acquired horizontally after birth have distinctive and longer lasting virologic and clinical features.…”

Congenital infection with human herpesvirus 6 variant B associated with neonatal seizures and poor neurological outcome

“…transmission. Since the viral genome has been detected in cervical swabs in up to 20% of pregnant women [Ando et al, 1992], the possibility of intrapartum infection has also been suggested [Hall et al, 1994]. Intrauterine transmission has already been documented by HHV 6 DNA detection in 0.28-1.6% from cord blood specimens of healthy newborns [Aubin et al, 1992;Dunne and Demmler, 1992;Adams et al, 1998], and in fetuses following spontaneous abortions [Ando et al, 1992].…”

“…Horizontal transmission through saliva is thought to be the most common route of transmission, but HHV 6 DNA has been detected both in 20% of cervical swabs obtained from pregnant women [Okuno et al, 1995] and in 0.28-1.6% of cord blood specimens of apparently healthy newborns, suggesting asymptomatic vertical transmission [Hall et al, 1994;Dahl et al, 1999]. Moreover, there are reports of HHV 6 detection in fetuses following spontaneous abortions [Ando et al, 1992]. A recent case of HHV 6 B infection was associated with afebrile seizures in the neonatal period [Zerr et al, 2002].…”