Viral infections of the central nervous system in elderly patients: a retrospective study. (March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Parisi, Saverio G.; Basso, Monica; Del Vecchio, Claudia; Andreis, Samantha; Franchin, Elisa; Dal Bello, Federico; Pagni, Silvana; Biasolo, Maria Angela; Manganelli, Riccardo; Barzon, Luisa; Palù, Giorgio
• Is Part Of: International journal of infectious diseases. Volume 44(2016:Mar.)
• Page Start: 8
• Page End: 10
• Publication Date: 2016-03
• Subjects: Elderly -- Varicella zoster virus -- Cerebrospinal fluid; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; Communicable Diseases -- Periodicals; Communicable diseases; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2016.01.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1201-9712

Abstract

Highlights: A positive result was more frequent in patients older than 80 years. Enterovirus was the second most frequently detected virus. Varicella zoster virus in the cerebrospinal fluid was detected more frequently in patients older than 80 years than in patients aged 65–79 years. Summary: Objectives: Very few data exist on viral meningitis and encephalitis in elderly patients (>65 years old). Methods: This study investigated the detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella zoster virus (VZV), human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), HHV-7, HHV-8, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), enterovirus (EV), human adenovirus (HAdV), human parechoviruses (HPeVs), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) through real-time PCR (RT-PCR) in patients >65 years old who had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tested for a suspected central nervous system infection. Results: A total of 2868 RT-PCRs were performed on 502 CSF samples. Overall, 65 positive RT-PCRs were found: 23 for HSV (35.4% of positives), 15 for EV (23.1% of positives), 14 for EBV (21.5% of positives), 12 for VZV (18.5% of positives), and one for CMV (1.5% of positives). A positive RT-PCR in CSF was detected in 24 (17.4%) patients aged ≥80 years and in 35 (9.6%) patients aged 65–79 years ( p = 0.02). VZV was more frequently detected in the oldest subjects (5.9% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.03). Conclusions: HSV was the most common viral aetiology identified in the study, with VZV infection being recognized more frequently in those patients aged ≥80 years.