Meningitis and viral encephalitis in Uruguay. Survey through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on cerebrospinal fluid for herpesvirus, enterovirus and arbovirus as main etiological agents
59 cases studied
Abstract
Introduction: in our country there are no systematic studies on the incidence of virus as a cause of encephalitis and meningitis. However, some studies on the seroprevalence of arbovirus and poliovirus were carried out in the sixties and seventies. Today, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) applied to cerebrospinal fluid technique allows us to obtain accurate diagnosis within a short time, on the different viral agents that cause these neuroviroses.
Method: we explored the incidence of virus from the herpesvirus, enterovirus and arbovirus group through PCR techniques applied to HIV negative patients.
Results: this study included 59 HIV negative patients who suffered from encephalitis and meningitis of viral etiology. These agents are responsible for most of the cases of meningitis and encephalitis in our continent.
Conclusions: the final viral diagnosis may be obtained in over half of the cases presented. The herpesvirus is the most frequent both in children and in adults, being it significant the incidence of enterovirus. No arbovirus were identified in this study.
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