title: Viral infections of the central nervous system in elderly patients: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Very few data exist on viral meningitis and encephalitis in elderly patients (>65 years old).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study investigated the detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella zoster virus (VZV), human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), HHV-7, HHV-8, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), enterovirus (EV), human adenovirus (HAdV), human parechoviruses (HPeVs), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) through real-time PCR (RT-PCR) in patients >65 years old who had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tested for a suspected central nervous system infection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2868 RT-PCRs were performed on 502 CSF samples. Overall, 65 positive RT-PCRs were found: 23 for HSV (35.4% of positives), 15 for EV (23.1% of positives), 14 for EBV (21.5% of positives), 12 for VZV (18.5% of positives), and one for CMV (1.5% of positives). A positive RT-PCR in CSF was detected in 24 (17.4%) patients aged ≥ 80 years and in 35 (9.6%) patients aged 65-79 years (p=0.02). VZV was more frequently detected in the oldest subjects (5.9% vs. 1.6%, p=0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HSV was the most common viral aetiology identified in the study, with VZV infection being recognized more frequently in those patients aged ≥ 80 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy. Electronic address: saverio.parisi@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Saverio G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Del Vecchio
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andreis
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Franchin
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dal Bello
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pagni
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Angela
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Biasolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manganelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barzon
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35100 Padova, Italy; Microbiology and Virology Unit, Padova Hospital, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palù
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002494:Central Nervous System Infections / Q000821:virology*; D002644:Chickenpox; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne; D004769:Enterovirus Infections; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008587:Meningitis, Viral / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000821:virology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014777:Virus Diseases
keywords: Cerebrospinal fluid; Elderly; Varicella zoster virus