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Abstract
Acute viral encephalitis is associated with significant mortality and morbidity in children, but its cause remains largely unknown. The etiological agents are variable and showed considerable geographic and age dependent variation. To describe the epidemiology of viral encephalitis in children admitted in university hospital, with regards to prevalence, etiologic diagnosis by PCR and outcome and risk factors associated with death. 44 children from 1 month to 13 years old presented with encephalitis were prospectively investigated over a period of 16 months. All patients were subjected to CSF examination using real-time PCR (RT - PCR). Data were collected from the patients and their parents. A confirmed etiological agent was identified in 6 cases out of 44 enrolled patients (13.6%) and 38 cases (86.4%) had unknown etiology. The most commonly diagnosed causative agent was enterovirus (n = 4, 9.1%), followed by herpes simplex virus - 1 (n = 1) and cytomegalovirus (n = 1). The majority of the cases was under the age of 5 years old and admitted mainly in summer. The most frequent neurological symptoms were convulsions (68.2%), altered mental status (68.2%), apnea due to brain stem affection (20.5%) and acute flaccid paralysis in (9.1%) of the cases. 50% of confirmed etiology group showed abnormal CT brain findings