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Nose is gateway for virus tied to brain disorders

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 1:43 am
by MSUK
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The nose apparently can be a portal for a cousin of the herpes virus that is linked to brain disorders, scientists have discovered.

These findings reveal a new way the brain can get infected.

Scientists investigated human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6), a member of the family of viruses that includes genital herpes as well as oral herpes, which causes cold sores. HHV-6 is linked with brain disorders such as multiple sclerosis, encephalitis and a form of epilepsy, and causes roseola, a disease common among infants that leads to a high fever and skin rash.

"This is a virus that we've all been exposed to, that we all pretty much acquired in childhood," said researcher Steven Jacobson, a neurovirologist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md. "Most of the time it's utterly benign."... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1680