Elsevier

IDCases

Volume 5, 2016, Pages 57-59
IDCases

Case study
Neonatal encephalitis due to Chikungunya vertical transmission: First report in Brazil

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idcr.2016.07.008Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Purpose

To report the first case of Chikungunya encephalitis acquired in the perinatal period during the current outbreak in Brazil

Methods

Case report.

Results

A male neonate with 3500 g developed macular erythematous rash, hypoactivity and fever progressing to generalized seizures. His mother had experienced a disseminated rash and fever before delivery. EEG showed diffuse slowing and cranial NMR was suggestive of encephalitis. Rt-PCR for Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) was positive in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), blood, urine and saliva. The newborn was discharged home with neurological improvement.

Conclusion

We report the first case of a perinatal CHIKV infection associated with a rapidly evolving encephalitis and an extensive dissemination of the virus as documented by positive rt-PCR results in CSF, blood, urine and saliva in the present outbreak in Brazil. In countries experiencing outbreaks of CHIKV infections, clinicians and neonatologists must be familiar with the possibility of the occurrence of neurologic complications and its possible consequences.

Keywords

Chikungunya-associated encephalitis
Chikungunya neonatal
Neurological syndromes
Neonatal encephalitis
Vertical transmission.

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