Arbovirus, herpesvirus, and enterovirus associated with neurological syndromes in adult patients of a university hospital, 2017-2018

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Lucas Lopes Leon, Rodrigo Gonçalves de Lima, Lídia Cristian Boffi, Raissa Nery Bindilatti, Célia Regina Garlipp, Sandra Cecília Botelho Costa, Sandra Helena Alves Bonon
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2021
• Subjects: Arbovirus infections; Central nervous system; Polymerase chain reaction; Viral diseases; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0127-2021; https://doaj.org/article/0625e2509b4348c7981366103630b81a

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Herpesviruses, enteroviruses, and arboviruses are important because of their clinical relevance and ability to cause meningitis, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, and other diseases. The clinical virology associated with diagnostic technologies can reduce the morbidity and mortality of such neurological manifestations. Here we aimed to identify the genomes of agents that cause neurological syndromes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with suspected nervous system infections admitted to the University Hospital of the University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2017-2018. METHODS: CSF samples collected from adult patients with neurological syndrome symptoms and negative CSF culture results were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reverse transcriptase-PCR, and real-time PCR, and their results were compared with their clinical symptoms. One CSF sample was obtained from each patient. RESULTS: Viral genomes were detected in 148/420 (35.2%) CSF samples: one of 148 (0.2%) was positive for herpes simplex virus-1; two (0.5%) for herpes simplex virus-2; eight (1.9%) for varicella-zoster virus; four (1%) for Epstein-Barr virus; one (0.2%) for cytomegalovirus; 32 (7.6%) for human herpesvirus-6; 30 (7.1%) for non-polio enterovirus; 67 (16.0%) for dengue virus, three (0.7%) for yellow fever virus, and 21 (5%) for Zika virus. CONCLUSIONS: The viral genomes were found in 35.2% of all analyzed samples, showing the high prevalence of viruses in the nervous system and the importance of using a nucleic acid amplification test to detect viral agents in CSF samples.