title: Enterovirus meningitis in Tunisia (Monastir, Mahdia, 2011-2013): identification of virus variants cocirculating in France.
abstract: Acute enterovirus (EV) meningitis is a frequent cause of hospitalisation, and over 100 EV serotypes may be involved. A total of 215 patients of all ages with meningitis signs were investigated in 2 Tunisian hospitals. Their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was analysed retrospectively for EVs with a TaqMan real-time RT-qPCR. The virus strains were typed, and their evolutionary relationships were determined by Bayesian phylogenetic methods. An EV genome was detected in 21/215 patients (9.8%). The CSF viral loads ranged from 3.27 to 5.63 log10 genome copies/mL. The strains were identified in 13/21 patients and assigned to EV-B types. Viruses identified in Tunisian patients were genetically related to variants detected in France. The viral loads were similar in Tunisian and French patients for most EV types. The phylogenetic data and viral loads determined in Tunisian and French patients suggest that close EV variants were involved in aseptic meningitis in the 2 countries over a same period.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, LR99-ES27, Monastir, Tunisia; Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Tunisia. Electronic address: Ines_othman@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.affiliation: Université d'Auvergne, EPIE, EA 4843, Clermont-Ferrand, France; CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Service de Virologie, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Volle
authors.affiliation: Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Laboratory of microbiology, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elargoubi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mohamed Neji
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Guediche
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chakroun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Tahar Sfar University Hospital, Mahdia, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mohamed Tahar
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sfar
authors.affiliation: CHU Clermont-Ferrand, DRCI, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Université d'Auvergne, EPIE, EA 4843, Clermont-Ferrand, France; CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Service de Virologie, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peigue-Lafeuille
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, LR99-ES27, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mahjoub
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aouni
authors.affiliation: Université d'Auvergne, EPIE, EA 4843, Clermont-Ferrand, France; CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Service de Virologie, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Archimbaud
authors.affiliation: Université d'Auvergne, EPIE, EA 4843, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bailly
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004769:Enterovirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008587:Meningitis, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D019562:Viral Load
keywords: CSF viral load; Cerebrospinal fluid; Co-circulation; Enterovirus meningitis; Viral epidemiology