Prevalence of antibody to human herpesvirus 6 in women and children.

The antibody prevalence to human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) was compared between pregnant women and control women of similar ages in Thailand. No significant difference was detected in the antibody positive rate and antibody titers between both groups. The antibody titers in sera collected from pregnant women at 1st and 3rd trimester remained unchanged. Next, the antibody prevalence in infants were examined and the positive rate decreased until 3 months and started to increase from 6 months after birth. The present results suggest that the reactivation of HHV-6 might not occur during pregnancy and this virus infects infants postnatally.