Aseptic meningitis in infants < 2 years of age: diagnosis and etiology.
Standard virologic methods were used to characterize the relative contribution of each of the enterovirus classes to the etiology of aseptic meningitis during a prospective study of this disease among children < 24 months old. Viruses were isolated in cell culture from 164 (60%) of 274 cases identified over 5 years and in newborn mice from only 2 of 104 remaining cell culture-negative cases. Serologic tests identified the viral pathogen in 3 additional cases. The group B coxsackieviruses and the echoviruses were implicated in 156 (92%) of the 169 laboratory-diagnosed cases. Forty-eight percent of all diagnosed cases were due to group B coxsackievirus serotypes 2, 4, and 5; 78% of all cases were attributable to only 8 of the 67 known enterovirus serotypes. Polioviruses were the only viruses isolated from 7 children, including a cerebrospinal fluid isolate from 1 child and a urine isolate from another. Disease was attributable to the group A coxsackie-viruses for only 3 cases.
Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
L E
LE
Berlin
M L
ML
Rorabaugh
F
F
Heldrich
K
K
Roberts
T
T
Doran
J F
JF
Modlin
D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D002460:Cell Line; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D029822:Enterovirus B, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008582:Meningitis, Aseptic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D014780:Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification*