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Background: Primary human herpesvirus-6 and -7 (HHV-6/-7) infections cause febrile illness sometimes complicated by convulsions and rarely encephalopathy. Aims: To explore the extent of such HHV-6 and -7 induced disease in young children. Methods: In a three year prospective study in Britain and Ireland, 205 children (2-35 months old) hospitalized with suspected encephalitis and/or severe illness with fever and convulsions were reported via he British Paediatric Surveillance Unit network. Blood samples were tested for primary HHV-6 and -7 infections. Results: 26/156 (17%) of children aged 2-23 months had primary infection (11 HHV-6; 13 HHV-7; two with both viruses) coinciding with the acute illness; this was much higher than the about three cases expected by chance. All 26 were pyrexical; 25 had convulsions (18 status epileptic's), 11 requiring ventilation. Median hospital stay was 7.5 days. For HI-JV-6 primary infection the median age was 53 weeks (range 42-94) and the distribution differed from that of uninfected children; for HI-IV-7, the median was 60 weeks (range 17-102) and the distribution did not differ for the uninfected. Fewer (5/15) children with primary HHV-7 infection had previously been infected with HHV-6 than expected. Conclusions: Primary HHV-6 and HHV-7 infections accounted for a significant proportion of cases in those 2 years old of severe illness with fever and convulsions requiring hospital admission; each virus contributed equally. Predisposing factors are age for HHV-6 and no previous infection with I-II-IV-6 for HHV-7. Children with such neurological disease should be investigated for primary I-IHV-6/-7 infections, especially in rare cases coinciding by chance with immunisation to exclude misdiagnosis as vaccine reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares the administration of whooping cough immunization in France and Great Britain. It has been noted that the latter is not really active in the vaccination policy, while the former normally incorporates whooping cough vaccine with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. However, administration of the vaccine had brought out various side effects in each of the country.

Objectives: To identify children with afebrile seizures in a national cohort, classify the seizures, and document progress in the first 10 years of life., Design: Population based birth cohort study., Setting: The child health and education study, which includes 16,004 neonatal survivors (98.5% of infants born in the United Kingdom during one week of April 1970)., Subjects: 14,676 children for whom relevant information was available., Main Outcome Measures: Responses to parental and general practitioner questionnaires and hospital records at 5 and 10 years after birth., Results: 84 children (42 boys, 42 girls) had had one or more afebrile seizure (incidence 5.7/1000). 63 children (31 boys, 32 girls) had epilepsy (incidence 4.3/1000). 49 of 55 children had a second seizure within a year of the first. The commonest seizure types were tonic-clonic (42) and complex partial (25). A greater proportion of children with complex partial seizures had recurrences. Children who had infantile spasms or a mixed seizure disorder had a poor outcome. All six children who died had symptomatic seizures in the first year, but seizures were not the direct cause of death., Conclusions: The results of this study are probably representative of seizure patterns in the general population. Outcome after seizures is determined more by the underlying disease than by the seizures themselves.