Reye and Reye‐like Syndromes: Result of a Pilot Stud in Peninsular Malaya, 1986

A pilot epidemiologic study of all cases of Reye and Reye‐like syndromes was undertaken at 8 representative major hospitals in Peninsular Malaya from January 1st to December 31st 1986. The cases were classified as definitive Reye's syndrome, clinical Reye's syndrome and encephalo‐hepatopathies. Less than 50% of cases reviewed fulfined the National Center for Disease Control criteria for clinical Reye's syndrome. Causes of Reye‐like syndromes/encephalo‐hepatopathies included fulminant hepatitis, Japanese B encephalitis, dengue, septicaemia, and complex febrile fits. It was not possible to differentiate clinical Reye's syndrome from the other encephalo‐hepatopathies by either the clinical features (except for jaundice) or biochemical parameters. Liver biopsy is necessary for a definitive diagnosis of Reye's syndrome in Malaysia, because of the high prevalence of Reye‐like diseases. The mortality rate in the 2 groups of patients is similar. Ingestion of salicylates was not found to be significantly associated with Reye and Reye‐like syndromes in this study.