Mumps-Associated Acute Cerebellar Ataxia

Post-EBV Cerebellitis: A Very Rare Complication of Infectious Mononucleosis

“…It usually occurs after the acute EBV infection which suggests autoimmune nature of the disease rather than direct EBV infection itself. Antiviral antibodies and autoreactive antibodies against Purkinje cells, centrosomes and myelin-associated glycoprotein have been isolated from cerebrospinal fluid in some affected patients [1,6,9,10] which again supports the possible autoimmune etiology. However, in other case reports, viral nucleic acids have been identified in the cere- brospinal fluid, suggesting that infection of brain tissue may contribute to the disorder [2].…”

Complications of mumps requiring hospitalization in children

“…No complications were observed during the course of the illness in any of the cases. Reported complications and sequelae of mumps meningoencephalitis include death, optic neuritis, deafness, ocular palsy, hemiparesis, spasticity, quadriplegia and personality changes [2,8,13]. Cerebellar involvement was seen in 6 of our patients.…”

Acute Ataxia in Childhood

“…2,10 However, this is consistent with prior observations reporting that postinfectious cerebellar ataxia can occur following a wide range of illnesses. 8,10 –17 Importantly, very few of our patients developed symptoms after vaccination, suggesting that vaccination is safe and less likely to be associated with acute ataxia than the viral illness it aims to prevent. This agrees with a prior study showing that the incidence of postinfectious cerebellar ataxia was at least 35 times lower than that associated with varicella infection.…”