Abstract

The enterovirus are responsible for at least 90% of cases of aseptic meningitis (AM). The lack of an appropriate diagnostic method usually determines unnecessary antibacterial treatment. In this study the enteroviruses from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were detected using tissue culture followed by indirect immunofluorescence (TC/IFI) and compared with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Twenty two samples from children with AM and 17 samples from children with other central nervous system abnormalities (controls) were studied. All children were admitted to pediatric facilities of Hospital Carlos van Buren _ Valparaiso, Chile. RT-PCR and culture resulted positive in 21 of 22 children with AM, both were negative in the remaining child. Two of the 17 control samples were positive by RT-PCR and one of these was also positive by TC/IFI . The RT-PCR is a sensitive and specific method for detection of enterovirus in CSF. Application of this technique in the clinical setting can be useful for patients with AM.