Korean J Pediatr Infect Dis.  1996 Nov;3(2):207-213. 10.14776/kjpid.1996.3.2.207.

A Case of Type 1 Herpes Simplex Virus Encephalitis Detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction

• Park DY
• Lee JS
• Lee YH
• Sohn YM

• KMID: 2440445
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14776/kjpid.1996.3.2.207

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus(HSV) infections of the CNS are associated with significant morbidity and mortality even when appropriate antiviral therapy is administered. HSV infections of the brain can be subdivided into two categories : neonatal HSV infections, which usually are caused by HSV type 2, and herpes simplex encephalitis(HSE), which occur in patients over 3 months old and is nearly uniformly caused by HSV type 1. The clinical presentation of HSE is one of the focal encephalopathic process associated with altered levels of consciousness, (ever, focal seizures and hemiparesis. But because of the lack of pathognomic clinical presentation and diagnostic procedure, the efforts to develop alternative diagnostic procedure have led to the use of new diagnostic technique such as polymerase chain reaction(PCR). We report a case of HSV type 1 encephalitis in 13 month old male infant who presented with altered level of consciousness, fever and focal seizures. With the use of the PCR, HSV-1 DNA was detected in cerebrospinal fluid from the patient. The symptoms and signs of encephalitis subsided by treatment with acyclovir in 14 days.

Keyword

Herpes simplex virus encephalitis; Polymerase chain reavtion

MeSH Terms

Acyclovir
Brain
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Consciousness
Consciousness Disorders
DNA
Encephalitis
Fever
Herpes Simplex*
Herpesvirus 1, Human
Humans
Infant
Male
Mortality
Paresis
Polymerase Chain Reaction*
Seizures
Simplexvirus*
Acyclovir
DNA