Astrovirus encephalitis in boy with X-linked agammaglobulinemia.
Encephalitis is a major cause of death worldwide. Although >100 pathogens have been identified as causative agents, the pathogen is not determined for up to 75% of cases. This diagnostic failure impedes effective treatment and underscores the need for better tools and new approaches for detecting novel pathogens or determining new manifestations of known pathogens. Although astroviruses are commonly associated with gastroenteritis, they have not been associated with central nervous system disease. Using unbiased pyrosequencing, we detected an astrovirus as the causative agent for encephalitis in a 15-year-old boy with agammaglobulinemia; several laboratories had failed to identify the agent. Our findings expand the spectrum of causative agents associated with encephalitis and highlight unbiased molecular technology as a valuable tool for differential diagnosis of unexplained disease.
Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
Phenix Lan
PL
Quan
Thor A
TA
Wagner
Thomas
T
Briese
Troy R
TR
Torgerson
Mady
M
Hornig
Alla
A
Tashmukhamedova
Cadhla
C
Firth
Gustavo
G
Palacios
Ada
A
Baisre-De-Leon
Christopher D
CD
Paddock
Stephen K
SK
Hutchison
Michael
M
Egholm
Sherif R
SR
Zaki
James E
JE
Goldman
Hans D
HD
Ochs
W Ian
WI
Lipkin
D000293:Adolescent; D000361:Agammaglobulinemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D040181:Genetic Diseases, X-Linked / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D001257:Mamastrovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral