title: Detection of enteroviruses in pediatric patients with aseptic meningitis.
abstract: Aseptic meningitis is an acute viral infection of the central nervous system that occurs most frequently in infants and young children. This study was conducted on 100 pediatric patients with ages range from 1.5 months to 6 years. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were obtained with criteria of aseptic CNS infections as documented by pleocytosis, negative Gram stain and negative bacterial culture. Clinical and CSF findings of the affected children were analyzed and CSF specimens were submitted to viral culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to determine the enteroviral etiology. Fifty six percent patients had positive PCR results for the enteroviral genome, compared with 20% by virus culture. We can conclude that PCR is a rapid, reliable and sensitive diagnostic tool for the detection of enteroviral infections. A positive EV-PCR result may affect clinical decision making and may significantly alter the medical care offered to infected patients.
authors.affiliation: Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Olfat G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Shaker
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics Department, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt(1). Electronic address: ibra_n2005@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Nehal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abdelhamid
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004769:Enterovirus Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008582:Meningitis, Aseptic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008587:Meningitis, Viral / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Aseptic meningitis; Enteroviruses; Pediatric patients