Clinical and immunological features of rotavirus infection in children infected with herpesviruses

Abstract

The basis for conducting the study was the absence in the scientific literature of works devoted to the study of clinical and immunological features of rotavirus infection (RVI) in children against the background of the latent form of herpesvirus infection (lHVI) caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6). The aim - to identify clinical and immunological features of RVI in children with lHVI caused by CMV and HHV-6 that will contribute to the early diagnosis of lHVI in patients. Materials and methods. A total of 81 children aged 12-36 months with RVI were examined. The Group 1 included 33 children who were not found to be infected with any of the herpesviruses. The Group 2 included 17 children who were suffering from RVI against the background of lHVI caused by CMV. The Group 3 included 31 children suffering from RVI against the background of lHVI caused by HHV-6 type. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the IBM® SPSS® 25.0 program for Microsoft® Windows®. The results. The presence of lHVI caused by CMV in the acute period (AP) of RVI leads to lower indicators of temperature reaction, lower frequency of vomiting, a decrease in the immunoregulatory index (IRI) against the background of an increase in the level of CD8+ T-lymphocytes. In addition to lower numbers of the temperature reaction, the level of IgA was increased in children with lHVI caused by HHV-6. During the convalescent period (CP), CMV is associated with an increase in the duration of fever and diarrhea, an increased content of CD8+ T-cell counts, and lower IRI, CD16+, CD22+ T-cells, and IgM scores. In patients with lHVI caused by HHV-6, fever, diarrhea, and catarrhal syndrome persisted longer against the background of reduced levels of IRI, CD22+ T cells, and IgM. Conclusions. lHVI is caused by CMV and HHV-6, it has different effects on clinical and immune indicators in children with RVI.