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Volume 24, Number 10—October 2018
CME ACTIVITY - Synopsis

Human Pegivirus in Patients with Encephalitis of Unclear Etiology, Poland

Iwona Bukowska-Ośko, Karol PerlejewskiComments to Author , Agnieszka Pawełczyk, Małgorzata Rydzanicz, Agnieszka Pollak, Marta Popiel, Kamila Caraballo Cortés, Marcin Paciorek, Andrzej Horban, Tomasz Dzieciątkowski, Marek Radkowski, and Tomasz Laskus
Author affiliations: Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland (I. Bukowska-Ośko, K. Perlejewski, A. Pawełczyk, M. Rydzanicz, M. Popiel, K. Caraballo Cortés, M. Paciorek, A. Horban, T. Dzieciątkowski, M. Radkowski, T. Laskus); Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Kajetany, Poland (A. Pollak)

Main Article

Table 1

Comparison of clinical characteristics of 3 encephalitis patients infected with human pegivirus compared with patients with other forms of encephalitis, Poland, 2012–2015*

Characteristic Encephalitis patients infected with pegivirus
Other encephalitis patients
Patient 1 Patient 2 Patient 3 Infectious cause identified, n = 41† Unknown cause or autoimmune illness, n = 52‡
Male sex No No Yes 30 (73) 23 (44)
Median age, y (range) 55 28 20 38 (19–85) 38 (20–82)
Pharmacological immunosuppression present 0 0 0 2 (5) 3 (6)
HIV positive 0 0 0 0 2 (4)
Cancer 0 0 0 6 (15) 1 (2)
Median length of hospital stay, d (range) 41 30 8 12 (5–97) 11.5 (6–79)
Fever >38°C Yes Yes No 26 (63) 18 (35)
Headache Yes Yes No 22 (54) 25 (48)
Altered mental status Yes Yes No 36 (88) 47 (85)
Focal neurologic signs No No Yes 9 (22) 10 (20)
Seizures No No Yes 12 (29) 16 (31)
Stiff neck
No
No
No

7 (17)
12 (23)
CSF analysis
Median leukocyte count, cells/mm2 (range) 3 4 3 41 (1–1225) 18 (1–362)
Median protein level, g/L (range)
0.68
0.26
1.63

0.57 (0.16–3.21)
0.56 (0.11–3.33)
Death 0 0 0 1 (2.4) 0

*Values are no. (%) unless otherwise indicated. CSF, cerebrospinal fluid
†Identified infections were human herpesvirus 1 (n = 22), enterovirus (n = 6), varicella zoster virus (n = 5), tick-borne encephalitis virus (n = 6), and cytomegalovirus (n = 2).
‡All markers of viral infection were negative, but 5 patients had antibodies against N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor and a diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis.

Main Article

Page created: September 14, 2018
Page updated: September 14, 2018
Page reviewed: September 14, 2018
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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