High mortality in Nipah encephalitis is associated with presence of virus in cerebrospinal fluid

During the outbreak of Nipah virus encephalitis in Malaysia, stored cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 84 patients (27 fatal and 57 nonfatal cases) were cultured for the virus. The virus was isolated from 17 fatal cases and 1 nonfatal case. There were significant associations between CSF virus isolation and mortality as well as clinical features associated with poor prognosis. In addition, there was a positive linear correlation of CSF virus isolation with age. There was no significant association between CSF virus isolation and the character of the CSF, presence of Nipah-specific antibody in the serum or CSF, duration of illness before collection of samples, or sex or ethnicity of the patients. This study suggests that high viral replication in the central nervous system may be an important factor for high mortality.

Parainfluenza virus type 2 meningitis and parotitis in an 11-year-old child

We describe the case of an 11-year-old Bolivian boy with parotitis and aseptic meningitis to demonstrate that parainfluenza virus type 2 can cause disseminated infection in a normal child. Parainfluenza virus type 2 was isolated from nasopharyngeal and CSF specimens from the patient and was confirmed to be parainfluenza virus type 2 by hemadsorption inhibition and by complement fixation. Parainfluenza virus type 2 may cause aseptic meningitis and parotitis.

Meningitis due to parainfluenza virus type 3: report of two cases and review

We report the cases of two infants with meningitis due to parainfluenza virus type 3. This is the first time that documented clinical and laboratory details have been reported for a 1-month-old infant with meningitis due to parainfluenza virus type 3 (our second case). We reviewed the literature and determined that CNS involvement by parainfluenza virus type 3 appears rare. Clinicians should be aware that parainfluenza virus type 3, one of the most common causes of viral respiratory infection in infancy, can also produce infection of the CNS and that hemadsorption testing of CSF specimens submitted for viral culture is necessary for detecting these paramyxoviruses.

Properties of an encephalitogenic canine parainfluenza virus

An isolate of canine parainfluenza (CPI) virus from the cerebrospinal fluid of a dog with neurological dysfunction was characterized in vitro in comparison to a prototype strain of CPI virus, D008. The virus, designated 78-238 was found to be antigenically related to CPI virus (Manhatten strain) and simian virus 5 (SV5), but not to mumps virus (Enders strain). Ultrastructural observation of gradient-purified 78-238 virus revealed enveloped pleomorphic virions with helical nucleocapsid symmetry. Preliminary pathological studies indicated that 78-238 virus was encephalitogenic for gnotobiotic dogs when inoculated by the intracerebral route.