This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0883073808314151v1 23/9/1028    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Robin, S. Articles by Alessandri, J.-L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Robin, S. Articles by Alessandri, J.-L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Neurologic Manifestations of Pediatric Chikungunya Infection

Service de Pédiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Départemental Félix Guyon, La Réunion, France, st-robin{at}chd-fguyon.fr

Duksha Ramful, MD

Service de Réanimation Néonatale et Pédiatrique, Centre Hosptalier Départemental Félix Guyon, La Réunion, France

Florence Le Seach, MD

Service de Pédiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Départemental Félix Guyon, La Réunion, France

Marie-Christine Jaffar-Bandjee, MD

Service de Biologie, Centre Hospitalier Départemental Félix Guyon, La Réunion, France

Gérald Rigou, MD

Service de Radiologie, Centre Hospitalier Départemental Félix Guyon, La Réunion, France

Jean-Luc Alessandri, MD

Service de Réanimation Néonatale et Pédiatrique, Centre Hosptalier Départemental Félix Guyon, La Réunion, France

Chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne arbovirus, was responsible for a massive epidemic in La Réunion Island during 2005 to 2006. The disease is usually benign, but neurologic involvement, with sometimes fatal outcome, has been described. We report a retrospective hospital-based pediatric series of 30 children (23 boys and 7 girls) who presented neurologic manifestations of chikungunya such as encephalitis (n = 12), febrile seizures (n = 10), meningeal syndrome (n = 4), and acute encephalopathy (n = 4). Cerebrospinal fluid biological and cytological analyses (n = 23) were unremarkable except for 1 case of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. The presence of viral genome in cerebrospinal fluid was inconstantly positive. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (n = 14) were abnormal in 5 cases. Electroencephalography was nonspecific. Two patients died. At discharge and 6 months later, 5 children had neurologic sequelae. Patients with initial severe neurologic presentation and having pathological brain MRI had more sequelae or fatal disease.

Key Words: chikungunya • arbovirus • encephalitis • seizures

This version was published on September 1, 2008

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 23, No. 9, 1028-1035 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0883073808314151


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. L. Tyler Emerging Viral Infections of the Central Nervous System: Part 2 Arch Neurol, September 1, 2009; 66(9): 1065 - 1074. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]