title: Association of human parvovirus B19 infection with acute meningoencephalitis.
abstract: To find out the incidence and clinical presentation of parvovirus B19 meningoencephalitis, we tested samples of cerebrospinal fluid from 162 patients (one from each patient) with undiagnosed meningoencephalitis, who presented between March, 1997, and March, 1998 (an outbreak period) using nested PCR for B19 genes. Seven patients were positive; an incidence of 4.3%. Five additional cases of meningoencephalitis were detected from other years. Three patients with underlying disorders (haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, Cockayne's syndrome, and Turner's syndrome) died. Neurological sequelae were observed in three surviving patients, all of whom had had striking abnormalities detected on brain scans done during the acute phase.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barah
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Vallely
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chiswick
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Cleator
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kerr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology