Home | HHV-6 | The Lab | Physician's Corner | Links | Contact Us | Site Map What is the rationale for repeat testing for active HHV-6 infection?Experience gained by our laboratory (almost 4000 patient specimens tested) has demonstrated that in a chronic HHV-6 infection the amount of active HHV-6 (viral load) in the blood of a patient rises and falls periodically. When the viral load decreases, it may drop below the level of sensitivity of the assay. This is graphically demonstrated in the two figures below. First, MS patient JW was followed for 14 months by the rapid culture assay. Overall, 40% of this patient's blood samples were positive for active HHV-6 infection. Interestingly, during the first four months the blood samples were frequently positive in contrast to the four month period (months 9 through 13) when no sample was positive.
[Click picture to enlarge.] Second, CFS patient RH was followed for almost 18 months and 38% of the blood samples on this patient were positive for active HHV-6 infection. No clear pattern of positive results was evident since periods of high viral load (e.g. month 3) were interspersed with periods of low viral load (e.g. month 14). In summary, in patients with chronic, active HHV-6 infections (e.g. CFS and MS), viral load varies with time. Links to other pages in the About
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