Katherine Ward

Research Interests, Expertise and Groups: Human herpesviruses 6 and 7 (HHV-6 and HHV-7) are the cause of a childhood rash illness which is sometimes complicated by prolonged fits. My research has established diagnostic methods for the diagnosis of primary HHV-6 and -7 infections. This is important because my survey of encephalitis in young children showed that primary HHV-6 and -7 infections are an important cause of febrile status epilepticus in young children and antibody tests for diagnosis are not available elsewhere in the UK.