A case of cryptococcal meningo-encephalitis is described. Treatment with the fungicidal agent amphotericin B resulted in temporary improvement, but the patient relapsed and died 17 months after diagnosis. The pathology and treatment of the disease are discussed. (+info)
Virus meningo-encephalitis in Slovenia.
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The authors describe the main epidemiological features of the meningo-encephalitis observed in Slovenia since 1946. It is endemic there with occasional epidemic outbreaks; close study has been made of the epidemic which occurred in 1953. The disease is markedly seasonal, 95% of all cases in 1953 occurring from May to September. Another characteristic feature is the mention of tick bites in a very large number of case-histories; although the Slovenian tick fauna has not yet been systematically investigated, the generally incriminated vector is the tick Ixodes ricinus. In close association with this feature, the disease appears primarily among persons whose work lies in the woods where the ticks are found. This consequently affects the age distribution of patients, 56.2% of whom in 1953 were 11-30 years old. No spread of infection from person to person has been noted.The disease closely resembles the tick encephalitis observed in Czechoslovakia and the meningo-encephalitis described in western Russia and Austria. The authors consider it probable that the virus circulates in enzootic foci between rodents and ticks and that man is accidentally infected. (+info)
Virus meningo-encephalitis in Slovenia.
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A description, based on observations of about 500 cases over seven years, is given of the clinical features of virus meningo-encephalitis as it occurs in Slovenia.The course of the disease is generally diphasic-a prodromal stage being followed, after a quiescent period of a few days, by the meningo-encephalitic stage proper. Blood counts show leucopenia in the prodromal stage and neutrophilic leucocytosis in the meningo-encephalitic stage. Another characteristic feature is the almost regular increase of protein in the cerebrospinal fluid from the onset of the disease.It is pointed out that there is a considerable diversity of clinical phenomena in different patients, which often makes it difficult to diagnose the disease on clinical grounds alone. It is also frequently difficult to differentiate clinically between virus meningo-encephalitis and tuberculous meningitis or poliomyelitis. (+info)
Virus meningo-encephalitis in Slovenia.
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An organism was isolated from the blood of a patient clinically diagnosed as suffering from virus meningo-encephalitis; the organism causes illness and death in white mice. The antigen prepared from the brains of mice infected with this organism fixes complement with sera from typical cases of virus meningo-encephalitis. From its biological and serological characteristics, the isolated organism appears to belong to the group of neurotropic viruses and to be the causative agent of virus meningo-encephalitis in Slovenia. (+info)
Virus meningo-encephalitis in Austria. I. Epidemiological features.
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This paper reports on an epidemiological study of 304 cases of virus meningo-encephalitis hospitalized at the Neurological Clinic at Graz during the 1953 epidemic in Styria, Austria. The epidemic showed a distinct seasonal periodicity, with an increase in the number of new cases during the period June-September; the monthly percentage of paralytic and encephalitic cases was, however, lowest in July and August. While no epidemic centre could be distinguished, 78% of all patients came from rural, usually wooded, areas. The maximum morbidity occurred between the ages of 11 and 30 years. The severity of the disease increased with age, save for the group 1-10 years old.A history of insect bites was noted in a large proportion of patients, one-third reporting tick bites, and many others, mosquito bites. The author finds both the period of incubation of the illness and the chain of infection to be very variable; there appeared to be cases caused by family contact, possibly through droplet- or dust-borne infection, and a possibility of infection through foodstuffs.But for fatigue, concomitant illness or injury, and other precipitating factors, some cases might have been abortive; such factors also appear to determine the severity of the illness. (+info)
Virus meningo-encephalitis in Austria. II. Clinical features, pathology, and diagnosis.
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This paper reports on the clinical and pathological features as well as the diagnosis of 304 cases of virus meningo-encephalitis hospitalized at the Neurological Clinic, Graz, during the 1953 epidemic in Styria, Austria. Of these cases, 175 were of an aparalytic meningeal form, 50 preparalytic, 27 spinal paralytic, 20 bublo-spinal or ascending paralytic, 7 bulbar paralytic, 3 radiculitic or transmyelitic, and 22 encephalitic. The case-fatality rate was 4.6%. The clinical course of the disease-usually diphasic-and the changes in the spinal fluid showed a close similarity to those seen in poliomyelitis, but the paralysis preferentially involved the shoulder-girdle and upper arm.The post-mortem examination showed a picture of acute encephalitis, with changes in the grey matter particularly. Histological findings revealed extensive involvement of the anterior horns of the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, and the pons, and especially of the Purkinje's cells of the cerebellum.In making a diagnosis, the possibility of louping-ill, Russian spring-summer encephalitis, Czech tick encephalitis, and, particularly, poliomyelitis must be taken into account. The author points out that it is impossible to distinguish the virus meningo-encephalitis of this epidemic from poliomyelitis on the basis of clinical and post-mortem findings alone; a differential diagnosis must rest on serological and immunological grounds.Finally, the symptomatic and supporting treatment given is described. (+info)
Virus meningo-encephalitis in Austria. III. Pathogenic and immunological properties of the virus.
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Two virus strains were isolated from the central nervous systems of two fatal human cases during an epidemic of encephalomyelitis in Austria. Monkeys, mice, and chick embryos proved susceptible; rabbits and guinea-pigs were refractory. The experimental disease in monkeys was characterized by acute meningo-encephalomyelitis, which was localized particularly in the grey matter of the brain stem, the cerebellum, the medulla, and the anterior horns of the spinal cord. The virus produced discrete lesions on the chorioallantoic membrane of the chick embryo. In monkeys, viraemia was demonstrated for a period of at least 6-8 days before the development of the clinical illness.The virus was shown to be closely related to that of Russian spring-summer encephalitis. Neutralizing and complement-fixing antibodies could be demonstrated in patients' sera. (+info)
Serological aspects of virus meningo-encephalitis; a study of the reactions of two viruses isolated during the 1953 epidemics in Slovenia and Austria.
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Two agents isolated in 1953 from patients in epidemics of meningo-encephalitis in Slovenia and Austria were examined in neutralization tests at the Army Medical Service Graduate School in Washington, D.C., USA, and were found to be indistinguishable under the conditions of test from the agents called Russian spring-summer encephalitis virus, Czech encephalitis virus, or louping-ill virus, which are believed at the present time to be strains of the same agent. (+info)