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Viral aetiologies of acute encephalitis in a hospital-based South Asian population
Identifier
027565
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
BMC Infect Dis. 2017; 17: 303.
Published online 2017 Apr 24. doi: 10.1186/s12879-017-2403-z
PMCID: PMC5404678
PMID: 28438128
Viral aetiologies of acute encephalitis in a hospital-based South Asian population
Janarthani Lohitharajah,1 Neelika Malavige,2 Carukshi Arambepola,3 Jithangi Wanigasinghe,4 Ranjanie Gamage,5 Padma Gunaratne,5 Pyara Ratnayake,6 and Thashi Chang 7
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Background
The aetiological spectrum of acute encephalitis shows inter- and intra-geographical variations. We aimed to identify the viruses that cause infectious encephalitis in Sri Lanka, which represents a South Asian population.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 99 patients with encephalitis/meningoencephalitis admitted to two tertiary-care hospitals in Colombo. Cerebrospinal fluid and serum were tested for conventional and emerging encephalitogenic viruses. Specific nucleic acid amplification and antibody assays were used to identify viruses. Plaque reduction neutralization test was done to confirm the diagnosis of West Nile virus (WNV).
Results
Patients’ age ranged from 1 month to 73 years (mean = 24.91; SD = 21.33) with a male:female ratio of 1.75:1. A viral aetiology was identified in only 27.3%. These included
- dengue virus (40.7%),
- Japanese encephalitis virus (25.9%),
- varicella zoster virus,
- WNV
- and probable Epstein Barr virus (11.1% each).
None were positive for herpes simplex viruses or cytomegalovirus. Screening for bacterial aetiologies was negative for all patients. There were no distinguishable clinical or laboratory findings between the different viral aetiologies. The case fatality rate was 7%, which was higher among patients with an identified viral aetiology.
Conclusions
A viral aetiology was identified in only about a quarter of patients with encephalitis. Dengue virus accounted for the majority.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-017-2403-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Keywords: encephalitis, virus, Sri Lanka, South Asia, dengue, WNV
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Activities and commonsteps
Activities
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Dengue virus infectionEBV
Encephalitis
Varicella Zoster Virus
West Nile Virus infection