Detection of human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) DNA in breast milk by polymerase chain reaction and prevalence of HHV-7 antibody in breast-fed and bottle-fed children

✍ Scribed by Fujisaki, Hiroyuki; Tanaka-Taya, Keiko; Tanabe, Hiroshi; Hara, Tatsuyuki; Miyoshi, Hiroko; Okada, Shintaro; Yamanishi, Koichi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 105 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199811)56:3<275::aid-jmv17>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Twenty-nine breast milk mononuclear cell samples were analyzed for human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) DNA, human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) DNA, and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from 13 puerperants were analyzed for HHV-7 DNA by PCR, and seropositivity of HHV-7 was also analyzed in breast-fed and bottle-fed children. HHV-7 DNA was detected in 3 of 29 breast milk samples. HCMV DNA was also detected in 3 of 29 breast milk samples, but HHV-6 DNA was not detected. HHV-7 DNA was detected in 11 of 13 samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Though the seropositivity rate for HHV-7 in breast-fed children was slightly higher than that in bottle-fed children at 18 and 24 months old, the difference was not statistically significant. From these results, we speculate that breast-feeding may be one of the transmission routes of HHV-7, although this is not the main route.