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Evaluation of combining upper respiratory tract swab samples with cerebrospinal fluid examination for the diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis in children
Author(s) -
Foray Sophie,
Pailloud Fabienne,
Thouvenot Danièle,
Floret Daniel,
Aymard Michèle,
Lina Bruno
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199902)57:2<193::aid-jmv18>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - aseptic meningitis , respiratory tract , meningitis , enterovirus , cerebrospinal fluid , medicine , respiratory system , viral meningitis , respiratory tract infections , upper respiratory tract infection , virology , pathology , virus , immunology , bacterial meningitis , surgery
In a prospective comparative study, the use of combined analysis of upper respiratory tract swab samples and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples was assessed to improve the detection rate of enteroviral meningitis in children. An enterovirus was detected in 32% of patients with aseptic meningitis when testing CSF samples alone compared with 71.5% when combining CSF and respiratory tract findings. An enterovirus was detected in 17% of respiratory tract samples in an age‐ and sex‐matched control group without meningitis. Thus, combining the examination of upper respiratory tract with CSF findings may improve the detection rate of enteroviral meningitis. Upper respiratory tract samples should be included in the diagnosis scheme to differentiate benign enteroviral meningitis from other life‐threatening infections of the central nervous system. J. Med. Virol. 57:193–197, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.