Department of Pediatrics, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan.
Department of Pediatrics, Kariya Toyota General Hospital, Kariya, Aichi, Japan.
J Med Virol. 2023 Jul;95(7):e28925. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28925.
Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to control COVID-19 have decreased the incidence of many pediatric infectious diseases. The epidemiology of β- and γ-herpesvirus infections might have been affected by NPIs. The aim of this study was to elucidate changes in trends in β- and γ-herpesvirus infections and complex febrile seizures (cFS) of viral etiology before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April 2017 and March 2021, febrile children aged ≤5 years were enrolled. Detection of EBV, CMV, HHV-6B, and HHV-7 DNA in serum was performed using real-time PCR. The epidemiology of viral infections and cFS were compared between the prepandemic and pandemic periods. During the observation period, 1432 serum samples were collected. The mean number of febrile children decreased during the pandemic period, but the number of patients with HHV-6B infection increased from 35 (9.3% of all febrile children) per year before the pandemic to 43 (15.5%) during the pandemic. The change in the proportion of patients with primary HHV-6B infection was 6.50% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.05%-11.3%; p = 0.0047). The mean number of patients with cFS decreased during the pandemic period, but the number of patients with HHV-6B-associated cFS was stable throughout the observation period. Therefore, the change in proportion of patients with cFS caused by primary HHV-6B infection was 49.5% (95% CI, 12.2%-60.5%; p = 0.0048). The disease burden of primary HHV-6B infection among patients in the emergency room remained unchanged, with a significant increase in the relative proportion after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
非药物干预（NPIs）控制 COVID-19 已降低了许多儿科传染病的发病率。β-和γ-疱疹病毒感染的流行病学可能受到 NPIs 的影响。本研究旨在阐明 COVID-19 大流行前后β-和γ-疱疹病毒感染和病毒病因性复杂热性惊厥（cFS）的趋势变化。在 2017 年 4 月至 2021 年 3 月期间，入组了≤5 岁发热的儿童。使用实时 PCR 检测血清中的 EBV、CMV、HHV-6B 和 HHV-7 DNA。比较了大流行前和大流行期间病毒感染和 cFS 的流行病学。在观察期间，共采集了 1432 份血清样本。大流行期间发热儿童的数量减少，但 HHV-6B 感染的患者数量从大流行前每年 35 例（所有发热儿童的 9.3%）增加到 43 例（15.5%）。原发 HHV-6B 感染患者比例的变化为 6.50%（95%可信区间[CI]，2.05%-11.3%；p=0.0047）。大流行期间 cFS 的患者数量减少，但 HHV-6B 相关 cFS 的患者数量在整个观察期间保持稳定。因此，原发 HHV-6B 感染引起的 cFS 患者比例的变化为 49.5%（95%CI，12.2%-60.5%；p=0.0048）。急诊室患者中原发 HHV-6B 感染的疾病负担保持不变，但 COVID-19 大流行开始后，其相对比例显著增加。
