Enterovirus and parechovirus meningitis in infants less than 90 days
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Characterising the burden of enterovirus and parechovirus meningitis in infants less than 90 days old in the UK and Republic of Ireland
IRAS ID
143077
Contact name
Shamez Ladhani
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health England
Research summary
Although viruses are generally considered to cause less severe illness compared with bacteria, they can occasionally cause serious infections that can be indistinguishable from bacterial infections, including septicaemia (blood poisoning) and meningitis. Young infants are particularly susceptible to enteroviruses (EV’s) and Human Parechovirus (HPeV) infections, which belong to the same family. Most infants develop mild, self-limiting symptoms such as fever or rash, but some may progress to life-threatening illnesses including meningitis and multi-organ failure. Some infants may subsequently go on to develop cerebral palsy or die.
Recent advances in laboratory techniques have led to a 4-fold increase in EV/HPeV diagnosis in England and Wales and this number is continuing to increase, with more than 500 cases diagnosed in 2011, including >200 in infants younger than 3 months. At present, there are no guidelines for clinicians on when to test or how to look after infants with meningitis caused by EV or HPeV. There are also no medications to treat such infections. Moreover, we do not know whether different enteroviruses cause more serious disease than others.
We propose a surveillance study to help define the epidemiology, clinical features and outcomes of EV and HPeV meningitis in this vulnerable age group. We aim to do this by collecting information on all cases in infants under 90 days of age that are diagnosed over a 13-month period throughout the UK and Ireland. This will be achieved by asking paediatricians to report cases (through a routine reporting source called the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit) as well as through laboratory reports. For all reported cases, we will then ask paediatricians to complete a detailed clinical questionnaire.
We hope that our study will help increase awareness of this condition among paediatricians and help develop national guidance on how to look after infants suspected with EV/HPeV meningitis.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0229
Date of REC Opinion
5 Feb 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion