Primary Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection in an Adult

To the Editor: Akashi et al. (July 15 issue)¹ reported seroconversion to human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) positivity in a patient with an infectious mononucleosis-like syndrome, and Cone et al. (July 15 issue)² detected high levels of HHV-6 genome in the lungs of recipients of bone marrow transplants who had idiopathic pneumonitis. In neither instance did the data prove that the virus caused the disease being studied. In the first report, the observations could have reflected recurrent HHV-6 infection coincident with signs and symptoms unrelated to the virus¹,³. The authors interpreted the serologic findings (IgG seroconversion with no IgM…