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  • Original Article
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Infections Post Transplant

Ganciclovir is effective for prophylaxis and treatment of human herpesvirus-6 in allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 29, pages 595–598 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infection and disease are serious complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Ganciclovir (GCV) is effective against HHV-6 in vitro but the antiviral susceptibility of HHV-6 has not been well characterized in vivo. We retrospectively compared the HHV-6 reactivation rate in pediatric allo-SCT recipients with and without GCV prophylaxis. The HHV-6 reactivation rate at 3 weeks after allo-SCT in patients without prophylactic GCV administration was significantly higher than that in those receiving prophylactic GCV (11/28 vs 0/13, P < 0.01). Five of 36 patients without prophylactic GCV showed clinical manifestations including skin rash, interstitial pneumonitis, persistent thrombocytopenia, enterocolitis and thrombotic microangiopathy, respectively. HHV-6-associated symptoms were observed in one of the 13 patients receiving prophylactic GCV. This patient showed fever, diarrhea and graft rejection concomitantly with a sudden increase of HHV-6 DNA copy number. Patients who received GCV for treatment of HHV-6 infection showed an improvement in symptoms and/or decrease of HHV-6 copy number. Thus, GCV is effective for treating HHV-6 disease after allo-SCT in vivo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Developmental Medicine (Pediatrics) D-5, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

    S Tokimasa, J Hara, Y Osugi, H Ohta, Y Matsuda, H Fujisaki, A Sawada, JY Kim, J Sashihara, K Amou, H Miyagawa, K Tanaka-Taya & S Okada

  2. Department of Microbiology C-1, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

    K Yamanishi

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  1. S Tokimasa
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  2. J Hara
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Tokimasa, S., Hara, J., Osugi, Y. et al. Ganciclovir is effective for prophylaxis and treatment of human herpesvirus-6 in allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 29, 595–598 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1703423

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1703423

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