NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH VIRAL AND MYCOPLASMA-PNEUMONIAE INFECTIONS

Abstract

In 1963 the WHO established a system for the collection and dissemination of information on viral infections and by 1976 laboratories in 49 countries were participating in this scheme. The present study is in 2 parts: part 1 is an analysis of almost 60,000 reports on neurological disease associated with viral and M. pneumoniae infections reported during 1967-76. This analysis showed a steady increase in the yearly number of reports of viral neurological diseases. which closely followed the general increase in the overall reporting of virus diseases. The seasonal pattern was similar to that seen in general for any given virus. Over 75% of the cases were in children. Over half of all viral neurological diseases were associated with enteroviruses; the myxoviruses accounted for almost 30%. Among the myxoviruses, mumps was the most frequently reported. The polioviruses were the agents most commonly detected in cases of paralytic disease. The other enteroviruses, mumps virus and the herpesviruses were the most frequently reported viruses in cases of aseptic meningitis or encephalitis. Of the reports on the myoxviruses (excluding mumps and measles), 1/3-1/2 related to ill-defined clinical conditions. Part 2 of the study deals with viruses whose role in neurological disease is less well documented. One laboratory reported an outbreak of adenoviral aseptic meningitis in Czechoslovakia; another described neurological disease associated with M. pneumoniae infection in Finland. Part 2 also includes a detailed appraisal of viral infections diagnosed in the Netherlands during 1973-76. The results are very similar to those routinely reported.