Vaccines and Treatment
There is no specific vaccine against or treatment for exanthema subitum, and most children with the disease are not seriously ill. A child with fever should be given plenty of fluids to drink. Paracetamol/acetaminophen or ibuprofen could be given to reduce their temperature (but never aspirin, due to the risk of Reye's Syndrome).
A small percent of children acquire HHV-6 "subclinically"; in other words, they show no outward sign of the disease. Exanthema subitum occurs in approximately 30% of children during primary HHV-6 infection. Others may be debilitated enough that a doctor's opinion is required to confirm the diagnosis, and particularly to rule out other more serious infections, such as meningitis or measles. In case of febrile seizures, medical advice is essential.
For HHV-6 infection, no pharmacological treatments have been approved as of June 2012. Although they may be unnecessary for exanthema subitum, the usage of Cytomegalovirus treatments (valganciclovir, ganciclovir, cidofovir, and foscarnet) have shown some success. These drugs are given with the intent of inhibiting proper DNA polymerization by competing with deoxy triphosphate nucleotides or specifically inactivating viral DNA polymerases.
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