Title: Epidemiology Of Pediatrics Encephalitis in Mashhad

Encephalitis is a relatively uncommon cause for admission in the pediatrics wards and is associated with high frequency of lifelong debilitating sequela.
The aim of this study is to find the frequency and Etiology of encephalitis in the pediatric neurology service of Ghaem hospital Mashhad.
This is a descriptive retrospective study among children who were discharged from pediatric neurology service of Ghaem hospital Mashhad (March 2008 up to September 2014) with final diagnosis of encephalitis. For finding the long term prognosis of encephalitis, we called all the available families and filled a questionnaire about neurologic functions.
During 6.5 years, we registered 55 cases of encephalitis. The mean age was 4.9 years, 50% were boys and 74% were city residents. The lowest seasonal incidence was in spring (15%) but it was almost equal in other seasons. CSF pleocytosis (WBC>5mm3) was seen in 23 cases ( 41%) and HSV PCR was performed in 49%(27cases ) of the cases. The causes of encephalitis were: acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) 16%, HSV 16% (5%PCR positive [definite] and 11% PCR negative [possible]), chicken pox encephalitis 3% and 63% undetermined.
Acyclovir was prescribed for 80% of the cases. In 77% of cases acyclovir was started in the first hospital.
Long term follow up showed that 32% of children suffer from persisting sequela of encephalitis.
ADEMis the most common causes of childhood encephalitis in Mashhad. In the state of Khorasan, pediatricians start acyclovir for most cases, at the first confrontation with childhood encephalitis.