Molecular detection of human parechovirus by real-time PCR in cerebrospinal fluid samples of pediatric patients with meningitis and meningoencephalitis

Human parechoviruses (HPeV) are rapidly evolving picornaviruses that may cause sepsis-/meningitis-like illness in infants. The present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence and quantity of human parechovirus in 160 cerebrospinal fluid samples of children under 5 years old with meningitis and meningoencephalitis hospitalized at Karaj Imam Ali Hospital.

160 CSF samples were collected during September 2019 to October 2020 in karaj province, Iran from hospitalized children with meningitis and meningoencephalitis. They were subject to detect HPeV using consensus primers targeted to their 5′UTR s.

Out of 160 samples of cerebrospinal fluid, two samples (1.25%) were positive for human parechovirus. The maximum viral load of HPeV was 5.6 × 106 copies / ml in December and in a 3.5 years old female patient and the minimum viral load was 3.2 × 104 copies / ml in February in a 4.5 years old female patient.

In this study for the first time, the presence of human parecovirus in the cerebrospinal fluid samples of children under 5 years of age with meningitis and meningoencephalitis hospitalized in Imam Ali Karaj Hospital reported. Two samples out of 160 cerebrospinal fluid samples were positive. It indicates the relationship between human parechovirus and neurological disorders