Polymerase chain reaction diagnosis of primary human herpesvirus-6 infection in the acute care setting

Rapid diagnosis of HHV-6 viremia may not serve to adequately differentiate infants with and without SBI in acute care settings. Although no children with HHV-6 viremia had bacteremia or meningitis, it appears that additional criteria are needed to increase the specificity of HHV-6 PCR testing before withholding evaluation for SBI.