A Critical Study on Duration of Excretion of Entroviruses in Children of Acute Encephalitic Syndrome: A Longitudinal Prospective Study

Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) is characterized by an acute onset of fever and clinical neurological manifestation that includes mental confusion, disorientation, delirium, or coma at any age excluding simple febrile convulsion. In India, agent causing encephalitis are mainly viruses including JE virus (JEV), Enteroviruses (EV-71, 76, 89), Chandipura viruses (CHPV) responsible for major outbreaks in past many years. Other viruses are HSV-1, Measles, Mumps Chikungunya, Kyansanur Forest Diseases, West Nile virus, Nipah (NiV) and Rabies viruses have been reported sporadically from different regions of India. National Institute of Virology, Gorakhpur unit has reported an association between enteroviral infection and AES in the region suspecting that some of the AES cases are due to non-polio enteroviruses but the exact diagnostic marker of EV infection is still unknown. EVs are etiological agents of encephalitis outbreak in human beings. Enteroviruses are transmitted predominantly via the fecal-oral route.