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Virological and Immunological Characteristics of Fatal Virus‐Associated Haemophagocytic Syndrome (VAHS)
Author(s) -
Kashiwagi Yasuyo,
Kawashima Hisashi,
Sato Satoshi,
Ioi Hiroaki,
Amaha Masahiro,
Takekuma Kouji,
Hoshika Akinori,
Oshiro Hisashi,
Matsubayashi Jun,
Mukai Kiyoshi
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2007.tb03890.x
Subject(s) - medicine , virus , immunology , cytomegalovirus , virology , enterovirus , herpesviridae , viral disease
We report three infants and one teenager with fatal virus‐associated haemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). Two infants were admitted to our hospital because of cardio‐pulmonary arrest (CPA). The third infant was admitted to our department because of fever and liver dysfunction, and he was diagnosed as combined immunodeficiency with predominant T cell defect. The teenager was diagnosed as systemic lupus erythema (SLE) when she was 10 years old and admitted to our department because of fever and thrombocytopenia. The histological findings for the four patients' organs revealed many haemophagocytic cells. The patients were infected by Parainfluenza virus type 2 (PIV2), Enterovirus (EV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV), respectively. Their laboratory data revealed elevated levels of ferritin and IL‐6, which also suggested virus‐associated haemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS). Although aggressive therapies were performed in all cases, the outcome was fatal. Further investigation would be needed to clarify the mechanism of VAHS and an effective therapeutic regimen is needed.