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Volume 13, Number 6—June 2007
Dispatch

Full Recovery from Baylisascaris procyonis Eosinophilic Meningitis

Poulomi J. Pai*, Brian G. Blackburn†1, Kevin R. Kazacos‡, Rajasekharan P. Warrier*, and Rodolfo E. Bégué*Comments to Author 
Author affiliations: *Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; †Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ‡Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Main Article

Table

Reported human cases of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis caused by Baylisascaris procyonis*

Year of onset Location Age Sex Blood eos/ mm3, n (%)† CSF eos/ mm3, n (%)† Diagnostic method Outcome
1975 Missouri 18 mo Female 5,139 (30) 209 (80) Serologic (cross-reacting) Persistent weakness and spastic right arm and leg
1980 Pennsylvania 10 mo Male 4,698 (27) 63 (68) Autopsy, serologic Death
1984 Illinois 18 mo Male 3,700 (37) 220 (80) Autopsy, serologic Death
1990 New York 13 mo Male 6,513 (39) 75 (60) Serologic Neurologic deficits, cortical blindness, brain atrophy
1993 Michigan 9 mo Male Unknown Unknown Serologic Neurologic deficits, cortical blindness
1993 California 13 mo Male 12,780 (45) Not done Brain biopsy, serologic Neurologic deficits, blindness, seizures, brain atrophy
1996 Illinois 6 y Male 605 (5) 2 (<1) Serologic Neurologic deficits, seizures
1996 Minnesota 13 mo Male 7,035 (35) 3 (54) Serologic Death
1997 Minnesota 19 mo Male 2,232 (18) 5 (4) Serologic Death
1998 California 11 mo Male 3,111 (17) 1 (7) Serologic Neurologic deficits, seizures, profound visual impairment
2000 Illinois 2.5 y Male 5,880 (28) 26 (32) Serologic Neurologic deficits, blindness, generalized spasticity
2000 California 17 y Male 2,385 (15) 7 (37) Brain biopsy, serologic Death
2002 California 11 mo Male Unknown Unknown Serologic Neurologic deficits, cortical blindness, seizures
2004‡ Louisiana 4 y Male 1,920 (12) 954 (55) Serologic Full recovery

*Modified from references (5) and (6), with permission.
†Highest within first 5 days of admission; eos, eosinophils; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid.
‡Case reported in this article.

Main Article

References
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  2. Kazacos  KR. Baylisascaris procyonis and related species. In: Samuel WM, Pybus MJ, Kocan AA, editors. Parasitic diseases of wild mammals. 2nd ed. Ames (IA): Iowa State University Press; 2001:301–41.
  3. Murray  WJ, Kazacos  KR. Raccoon roundworm encephalitis. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;39:1484–92. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
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  8. Brinkman  WB, Kazacos  KR, Gavin  PJ, Binns  HJ, Robichaud  JD, O’Gorman  M, Seroprevalence of Baylisascaris procyonis (raccoon roundworm) in Chicago area children. In: Program and abstracts of the 2003 Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, Seattle, Washington; 2003 May 3–6. Abstract 1872 [cited 2007 Mar 29]. Available from http://www.abstracts2view.com/pasall/authorindex.php)
  9. Taylor  MR, Keane  CT, O’Connor  P, Mulvihill  E, Holland  C. The expanded spectrum of toxocaral disease. Lancet. 1988;1:692–4. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
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1Current affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA

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