Neurovirological research of encephalitides in and around Karachi. The clinical aspects (interim report).

One hundred-and-fourteen cases of encephal itides and encephalopath ies were selected from the patients admitted to the Neurology ward Civil Hospital, Karachi (CHK), during the twelve years’ period from 1971 to June 1983. There were eleven cases of subacute scierosing pan encephalities (SSPE) and seven cases of chronic progressive encephalopathies (CPE). Forty-three cases of encephalitides and encephalopathies were collected at the CHK during the eight and a half months period (July 1983 to March 1984) on which clinical and serological studies were performed. Of these, nineteen were cases of acute encephalitides which included five cases of Japanese encephalitis and two probable and three possible cases of herpes simplex encephalitis. In the 43, seven cases of SSPE or SSPE-like diseases were found, all of which were associated with positive antibodies against measles virus in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Besides, six cases of subacute encephalitis or encephalopathy other than SSPE or SSPE or SSPE-like diseases were collected, one of which was associated with positive CSF antibodies against rubella virus, and another was a case of typhoid encephalopathy. Seven cases of CPE were also found in the 43, but their aetiology remains to be elucidated (JPMA 36:159, 1986).