Pediatric Infection and Vaccine

The Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (대한소아감염학회)
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A Case of Type 1 Herpes Simplex Virus Encephalitis Detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction

중합효소연쇄반응으로 확진된 Herpes Simplex virus 뇌염 1례

  • Park, Dae Young (Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University) ;
  • Lee, Joon Soo (Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University) ;
  • Lee, Young Ho (Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University) ;
  • Sohn, Young Mo (Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University)
  • 박대영 (연세대학교 의과대학 소아과학교실) ;
  • 이준수 (연세대학교 의과대학 소아과학교실) ;
  • 이영호 (연세대학교 의과대학 소아과학교실) ;
  • 손영모 (연세대학교 의과대학 소아과학교실)
  • Published : 1996.11.20
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Abstract

Herpes simplex virus(HSV) infections of the CNS are associated with significant morbidity and mortality even when appropriate antiviral therapy is administered. HSV infections of the brain can be subdivided into two categories : neonatal HSV infections, which usually are caused by HSV type 2, and herpes simplex encephalitis(HSE), which occur in patients over 3 months old and is nearly uniformly caused by HSV type 1. The clinical presentation of HSE is one of the focal encephalopathic process associated with altered levels of consciousness, fever, focal seizures and hemiparesis. But because of the lack of pathognomic clinical presentation and diagnostic procedure, the efforts to develop alternative diagnostic procedure have led to the use of new diagnostic technique such as polymerase chain reaction(PCR). We report a case of HSV type 1 encephalitis in 13 month old male infant who presented with altered level of consciousness, fever and focal seizures. With the use of the PCR, HSV-1 DNA was detected in cerebrospinal fluid from the patient. The symptoms and signs of encephalitis subsided by treatment with acyclovir in 14 days.

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