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. 2000 Jul;38(7):2753-5.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.38.7.2753-2755.2000.

Detection of human herpesvirus 6 and varicella-zoster virus in tear fluid of patients with Bell's palsy by PCR

A Pitkäranta  1 , H Piiparinen, L Mannonen, M Vesaluoma, A Vaheri
Affiliations

Detection of human herpesvirus 6 and varicella-zoster virus in tear fluid of patients with Bell's palsy by PCR

A Pitkäranta et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Jul.

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 6 DNA was detected by PCR in the tear fluid of 7 (35%) of 20 patients with Bell's palsy and of 1 (5%) of 20 healthy controls. Varicella-zoster virus was detected by PCR in the tear fluid of 2 of 20 Bell's palsy patients but in none of the tear fluids from 20 healthy controls. These findings suggest an association between human herpesviruses and Bell's palsy.

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