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Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) causes benign febrile illness or rash in >95% of children. It remains latent in the body thereafter but can become reactivated in severely immunocompromised individuals. Noting reports of HHV-6–associated neurologic disease in patients who had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, investigators in Maryland undertook a retrospective investigation involving adults who underwent this procedure at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center between 2009 and 2011.
The researchers identified 9 cases of HHV-6 encephalitis among 243 transplant recipients, with a median time of 21 days from transplant to symptom onset (range, 6 to 145 days). All patients presented with confusion and headache; …