Seroprevalence Of Human Herpes Simplex Virus In Children With Acute Leukemia In Sharkia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in children. Many studies have focused on the natural history of this disease but have received little advantage. Epidemiologic studies suggest that infectious agents play role in at least one step in the process of ALL (Wilkinson & Weller, 2006).Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute leukemia affecting adults, and its incidence increase with age (Hoffman et al.,2005).Viral infections are a frequent cause of sever disease in children with hematological malignancies or cancer. Due to the underlying disease itself or antineoplastic therapy leading to granulocytopenia, lymphopenia, disruption of natural skin, mucosal barriers or reduced humoral immune function (Greenlee et al., 2000).Recognition of viral infections, monitoring, prophylaxis and treatment are aimed at reducing the number of infected patients, mitigating the cause of the disease and limiting deaths directly linked with infection in pediatric cancer patients (Babak&Fattahi, 2010).Viral infection, especially that caused by the herpes group of viruses, is now recognized as an important cause of morbidity and mortality for patients with significant cellular immunosuppresion(Kinlen& Doll, 2004)..