Clinical presentation of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis in Papua New Guinea

• Published in: Tropical medicine & international health Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 219 - 227
• Main Authors: Mgone, Charles S., Mgone, Joyce M., Takasu, Toshiaki, Miki, Kenji, Kawanishi, Ryuta, Asuo, Peter G., Kono, Jacinta, Komase, Katsuhiro, Alpers, Michael P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.03.2003; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Distribution; Age Factors; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Antibodies, Viral - cerebrospinal fluid; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; clinical features of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis; eastern highlands; Electroencephalography; Female; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Male; Measles - complications; Measles Vaccine - administration & dosage; Measles virus; Measles virus - immunology; Medical sciences; Papua New Guinea; Sex Distribution; Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis - diagnosis; Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis - immunology; Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis - virology; Tropical medicine; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the nervous system; Papua New Guinea; Melanesia; Oceania; Human; Infection; Symptomatology; Nervous system diseases; Sclerosing panencephalitis; Viral disease; Central nervous system disease; Child; Cerebral disorder; Inflammatory disease; Subacute
• ISSN: 1360-2276; 1365-3156
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.2003.01020.x

Summary Eighty‐three children presented at Goroka Base Hospital in the Eastern Highlands Province (EHP) of Papua New Guinea over a period of 3 years and 9 months between February 1997 and November 2000 were confirmed to have subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). Confirmation of the diagnosis was based on the demonstration of high titres of measles antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid and/or serum in association with clinical features supportive of SSPE, including characteristic electroencephalographic changes and amplification of measles virus genome by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in some cases. The mean cerebrospinal fluid and serum enzyme immunoassay antibody levels among the SSPE patients were 38 250 and 860 580, respectively. The mean age of onset of SSPE was 7.9 ± 2.6 years and ranged between 2 and 14 years. The overall male to female ratio was 1.2:1 and 1.4:1 for EHP.