Open AccessElucidating the relationship between meningitis and SARSCoV-2 infection: a literature review
Author(s) -
Luana Brandão de Sales Reis,
Beatriz do Nascimento Garcia Moreno,
Ricardo Moreno do Carmo,
João Guilherme Santos Garrido,
Jeane Freitas de Oliveira
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1516-3180.622
Subject(s) - meningitis , medicine , viral meningitis , virus , pandemic , disease , isolation (microbiology) , immunology , virology , covid-19 , intensive care medicine , pediatrics , bacterial meningitis , infectious disease (medical specialty) , bioinformatics , biology
Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has become a major challenge for public health, once this disease can even affect the nervous system, causing severe conditions, such as meningitis. The association between meningitis and Covid- 19 is not yet well established, but it is believed that it can be caused both by a bacterial co-infection or by the involvement of meninges due to the action of the virus itself. Objective: The aim of the present study is to elucidate the relationship between meningitis and SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: In order to carry out a literature review, case reports were searched in the PUBMED database, in which only articles in English were considered, without year restriction, resulting in the following research formula: “((COVID-19) OR (SARS-CoV-2)) AND (meningitis)”. Results: 33 case reports were found, of which only 12 met the eligibility criteria. The reported cases provide evidence of meningeal and brain involvement by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, some with confirmation by CSF RT-PCR. Isolation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the CSF is challenging and has not been possible in other patients; however, the exclusion of bacterial involvement by culture and other viral agents in the CSF analysis points to infection by SARS-CoV-2 in a patient with positive RT-PCR by nasopharyngeal swab or bronchoalveolar lavage. Conclusions: The possibility of SARS-CoV-2 meningitis reinforces the need to investigate this condition in patients with COVID-19 who have neurological symptoms.