Dengue meningoencephalitis in a child presenting with focal seizures

Haider M Arishi; Adeeb A Ageel; Muneerah I Al Najmi; Tariq K Khawaji; Hassan I Al Guridi; Abdu H Mashhour; Nabeel S Dhayhi; Zaki M Eisa

doi:10.1016/j.ijpam.2020.01.007

Dengue meningoencephalitis in a child presenting with focal seizures

Int J Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2020 Sep;7(3):153-154. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpam.2020.01.007. Epub 2020 Jan 31.

Authors

Haider M Arishi¹, Adeeb A Ageel¹, Muneerah I Al Najmi¹, Tariq K Khawaji², Hassan I Al Guridi³, Abdu H Mashhour¹, Nabeel S Dhayhi¹, Zaki M Eisa²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, King Fahad Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
² Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis, King Fahad Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
³ Laboratory of Virology Molecular Diagnosis, Jeddah Regional Laboratory, King Fahad Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

We report a 9-year-old female child who presented with fever and focal seizures. The Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) analysis was compatible with viral meningoencephalitis and Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) on same sample was positive for dengue virus RNA, serotype 2. The dengue IgM in blood sample was positive on the 8th day of the illness. This case demonstrates the emerging neurological manifestations of dengue infection and the first confirmed pediatric meningoencephalitis reported from Saudi Arabia. In areas where it does exist, dengue should be included in the differential diagnosis of cases of viral meningitis or meningoencephalitis.

Keywords: CSF; Children; Dengue; Meningoencephalitis; RT-PCR.

Publication types

Case Reports