Isolation of human herpesvirus 7 from a child with symptoms mimicking chronic Epstein‐Barr virus infection

Summary. Human herpesvirus-7 (HHV-7), which is a newly identified human herpesvirus with an unknown pathologic role, was isolated from a 5-year-old boy suffering from fever, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia. Although the clinical course was similar to that of chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection, no viruses other than HHV-7 were isolated. This finding raises the possibility that HHV-7 played a pathogenic role in the present patient.