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   Pediatrics   
      
   November 3, 2014   
      
      
   Congenital herpes tied to lower developmental test scores in infants   
   by Sean Dobbin   
      
      
   (Medical Xpress)--Infants with congenital human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6)   
   infections are more likely to score lower on a 12-month mental development   
   test, according to a new URMC study published in the journal Pediatrics.   
   The study, which assessed 299 newborns over their first year of life, showed   
   that babies with congenital infection scored several points lower than those   
   without the infection. Scores for the infected babies were similar to those   
   exposed to lead or    
   cocaine in the womb.   
      
   "It's not a lot. They were all within the normal range," said Mary Caserta,   
   M.D., professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at URMC and the study's   
   lead researcher. "But it's similar to what you see with exposure to other   
   toxins. Will that    
   difference go away as they get older? Maybe. Will it get worse as they get   
   older? Maybe. It's worth looking into."   
      
   HHV-6 is one of eight herpes viruses that infect humans. Every human is   
   infected with HHV-6, usually in the first two years of life, and the infection   
   often presents with fever, sometimes accompanied by roseola-like symptoms.   
   But for a small portion of the population, the virus is integrated into a   
   person's genetic chromosomes, which causes a parent to transmit it to their   
   offspring while they are still in the womb--about 1 percent of newborns have   
   already been infected with    
   the virus congenitally.   
      
   The infants in the URMC study were given three intelligence tests. For the   
   first two--the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence and the Visual Expectation   
   Paradigm--there was no difference in scores between the infected infants and   
   the uninfected infants.    
   But for the third, a comprehensive test called the Bayley Scales of Infant   
   Development II, the infected infants scored four points lower than their   
   counterparts.   
      
   Caserta developed the study with the late Caroline B. Hall, M.D., a longtime   
   professor of pediatrics at URMC who spent her career studying HHV-6 and other   
   viruses. Going forward, Caserta said she'd like to test older children who   
   have been identified    
   with learning or cognitive disabilities to see if their rate of congenital   
   HHV-6 infection is higher than the rest of the population.   
   "If children with learning disabilities have a 5 percent rate of congenital   
   infection with HHV-6, while the rest of the population is at 1 percent, then   
   that could be a signal that these infants do continue to have progressive   
   developmental difficulties    
   as they get older," said Caserta. "We've got some preliminary data that says   
   these differences do exist, and now, we need to take the next step."    
      
   Journal reference: Pediatrics     
      
   Provided by University of Rochester Medical Center     
      
   http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-congenital-herpes-tied-dev   
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