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Best practice
Fifteen-minute consultation: enterovirus meningitis and encephalitis—when can we stop the antibiotics?
  1. Simon B Drysdale1,2,
  2. Dominic F Kelly1,2
  1. 1Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  2. 2NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Level 2, Children's Hospital, Oxford, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Simon B Drysdale, Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; simon.drysdale{at}paediatrics.ox.ac.uk

Abstract

Enterovirus (EV) is the most common cause of aseptic meningitis and has a benign course, unlike EV encephalitis, which can result in long-term neurological sequelae. There are no active treatments or prophylactic agents, and management is purely supportive. Obtaining an EV-positive cerebrospinal fluid result usually allows antimicrobial treatment to be stopped. This review will answer some of the common questions surrounding EV meningitis/encephalitis.

  • Enterovirus
  • parechovirus
  • meningitis
  • encephalitis
  • CSF

https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2016-310632

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors SBD conceived the article. SBD wrote the original draft. SBD and DFK reviewed and redrafted it and approved the final version.

    • Competing interests DFK has received financial assistance from vaccine manufacturers to attend conferences and receives salary support from the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.