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PRESENCE AND CLINICAL IMPACT OF HUMAN HERPESVIRUS‐6 INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH MODERATE TO CRITICAL CORONAVIRUS DISEASE‐19
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Abstract
Human herpesvirus‐6 (HHV‐6) may cause serious diseases in immunocompromised
individuals. SARS‐CoV‐2/HHV‐6 coinfection has been emphasized in previous
works, mostly case reports, small series, or epidemiological studies, but few are
known about its real clinical outcomes. Here we present a real‐world pilot study
aiming to understand the frequency and the clinical impact of HHV‐6 coinfection in
moderate to critically ill patients hospitalized due to COVID‐19. SARS‐CoV‐2 and
HHV‐6 were evaluated in nasopharyngeal samples at the hospital admission of
suspected COVID‐19 patients. From 173 consecutive cases, 60 were SARS‐CoV‐2
positive and 13/60 (21.7%) were HHV‐6 positive after identified as the HHV‐6B
species by a Sanger sequencing. The SARS‐CoV‐2+/HHV‐6+ group was younger but
not significant for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, but significant
among therapeutic immunosuppressed patients (as systemic lupus erythematosus
and kidney transplant patients). In the medical records, only sparse data
on cutaneous or neurological manifestations were found. Biochemical and hematological
data showed only a trend towards hyperferritinemic status and lymphopenia.
In conclusion, despite the impressive high frequency of HHV‐6 coinfection in
SARS‐CoV‐2 positive cases, it did not impact general mortality. We suggest larger
future prospective studies to better elucidate the influence of HHV‐6 reactivation in
cases of COVID‐19, designed to specific assessment of clinical outcomes and viral
reactivation mechanisms.
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