Acute viral infections of the central nervous system (CNS) such as acute flaccid paralysis, meningitis, and encephalitis, are responsible for a high morbidity, particularly in children. Non‐Polio enteroviruses (NPEV) are known to be responsible for over 80% of viral meningitis in which the etiologic agent is identified. In the present study, we show the frequency of enterovirus meningitis in Brazil from December 1998 to December 2003. Enterovirus were isolated from 162 (15.8%), of a total of 1,022 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens analyzed. Echovirus 30 was identified in 139 of these isolates (139/162–85.2%). Other identified enteroviruses were: Coxsackievirus B5 (3.7%), Echovirus 13 (3.7%), Echovirus 18 (3%), Echovirus 6 (1.2%), Echovirus 25 (1.2%), Echovirus 1 (0.6%), and Echovirus 4 (0.6%). Patients's age ranged from 28 days to 68 years old. The most frequent symptoms were fever (77%), headache (69.5%), vomiting (71.3%), neck stiffness (41.3%), convulsion (7.1%), and diarrhea (3.7%). Although, the majority of the patients recovered without any complication or permanent squeal, five deaths occurred. Throughout the surveillance period, five viral meningitis outbreaks were confirmed: four in the Southern Brazil and one in the Northeast Brazil. Echovirus 30 was responsible for four out of the five outbreaks while Echovirus 13 caused the fifth one. Besides the outbreaks, 734 sporadic cases were also identified during the study period and 59 of these were positive for virus isolation (8%). Echovirus 30 accounted for 70% of the isolates. Our results showed that Echovirus 30 was the most prevalent etiological agent of viral meningitis in Brazil, causing both outbreaks and sporadic cases. J. Med. Virol. 78:98–104, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, inc.

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Summaryobjective To describe the epidemiology of meningococcal disease (MD) in southern Brazil. methods Retrospective cohort study among 2215 MD cases reported from 1995 to 2003 in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) State.results The overall incidence fell by 50%; the case-fatality rate during this period was 22%. Even so, the incidence of MD remained high after the epidemic period ended in 1999. Together, the age groups of 1-4 years and infants accounted for 54.1% of reported cases with incidences of 11.3 ⁄ 100 000 and 31.3 ⁄ 100 000, respectively; 69.8% of cases were caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B, which increased significantly. There was a significant decrease in serogroup C cases in the whole period. The phenotypes B:4,7:P1.19,15, B:15:P1.7,16 and B:NT:P1.3 caused almost 50% of all serotyped cases. Fifty-six isolates obtained from RS patients during the first non-epidemic year 2000 plus 20 isolates from other southern Brazilian states (Santa Catarina and Paraná ), Denmark and France were typed by multilocus sequence typing. Twenty sequence types (STs) were identified, eight of them found only in RS. ST-33 (27%) and ST-259 (18%) were the most frequent; both belong to the ST-32 ⁄ ET-5 complex. ST-259 cases showed a trend towards higher risk of fatal outcome. ST-259 isolates were not detected among geographic controls or in other studies in Brazil.conclusion Our data suggest that ST-33 and ST-259 clones and the emergence of the ST-103 isolates contributed to the continued high incidence of MD in RS.

Vaccination with the L-Z strain of mumps vaccine as part of a mass campaign was associated with a significantly increased risk of aseptic meningitis. Decisions about type of mumps vaccine and mumps vaccination strategies must consider vaccine safety issues in addition to other criteria.

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A direct PCR test (DT-PCR) was established to detect Neisseria meningitidis DNA in clinical samples from patients with suspected bacterial meningitis. Specific primers for the 16S rDNA of N. meningitidis were designed to amplify a 600 bp DNA fragment. One hundred and ninety-three clinical samples were analysed, corresponding to 114 samples from patients diagnosed as positive and 79 as negative for infection by N. meningitidis using conventional methods (culture, latex agglutination and counterimmunoelectrophoresis). These samples were submitted to PCR by two different clinical sample preparation approaches (with and without DNA extraction and purification) and submitted to different PCR protocols to improve the results. In agarose gel detection, the sensitivity value for DT-PCR was 88·5 % and, using dot-blot DNA detection, the sensitivity increased to 96·4 %. The detection limit for meningococcus in cerebrospinal fluid was 2310 2 c.f.u. ml À1 .Serogroup prediction was done using a multiplex PCR protocol and the sensitivity was 83 % for agarose gel DNA detection and 96·4 % using dot-blot DNA detection.

The implementation of an Hib meningitis vaccination program has nearly eliminated Hib meningitis in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. These findings underscore the need to maintain the vaccination in children, with a thorough investigation of suspected cases and reporting of confirmed cases.