Magnitude of Herpes Simplex Viruses Causing Meningoencephalitis among Pediatric Patients in the North-western Region of India

Introduction: Herpes simplex virus is one of the commonest and treatable cause of meningoencephalitis. But, early identification of HSV remains a challenge especially among children due to clinical features which are not specific, such as fever, irritability, headache, diarrhoea and vomiting. Rapid identification of the pathogen can However, identifying the organism responsible for infection as soon as possible not only help elicit important epidemiological information but also help in starting specific treatment timely. The study was aimed to estimate magnitude of HSV-causing meningoencephalitis (ME) among the pediatric age group at a tertiary care hospital in Rajasthan (Northwest region of India). Methodology: The study was a prospective, cross-sectional study that included pediatric patients suspected of meningo- encephalitis up to the age of 18 years. Cerebrospinal fluid sample was obtained using aseptic procedures and nucleic acid was extracted from the sample and PCR was done. Results: We observed 4.4% (35/788)positivity for HSV among these, HSV-1 and HSV-2 cases were 29 (3.7%) and 6 (0.7%), respectively and was higher among males (4.9%) than female (3.6%) participants. Maximum suspected cases belonged to <1 year of age group but higher positivity was observed in 1-5 years of age. Conclusion: HSV positivity was found to be 4.4% (35/788) among these, HSV-1 was the predominant (3.7%) in patients suspected of meningoencephalitis, with higher positivity in males and children of 1-5 years of age. PCR was found to be useful rapid tool to identify the pathogen.