OBJECTIVE To investigate whether enterovirus infections predict progression to type 1 diabetes in genetically predisposed children repeatedly positive for islet autoantibodies. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Since 1993, the Diabetes and Autoimmunity Study in the Young (DAISY) has followed 2,365 genetically predisposed children for islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes. Venous blood and rectal s...

Cerebrospinal fluid samples collected from 23 children with neurologic symptoms, such as febrile seizures, status epilepticus, and transient altered states of consciousness, associated with acute febrile illness, were examined for infectious virus by cell culture. Enteroviruses (echovirus type 9 and coxsackievirus B3) were isolated from 2 of the cerebrospinal fluid samples. The samples were als...

Meningoencephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba spp. is a rare opportunistic infection, difficult to diagnose and treat, which causes death in almost all cases. Here, the authors report a 5-year-old Iranian immunocompetent girl who died of fulminant acanthamoeba meningoencephalitis. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of acanthamoeba meningoencephalitis in Iran.

Human enteroviruses can serve as a more accurate indicator of human fecal contamination than conventional bacteriological fecal indicators. We describe here a quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) assay specifically tailored to detect these viruses in environmental waters. The assay included a competitive internal positive control (CIPC) that allowed the inhibition of qRT-PCRs to be ...

BACKGROUND Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a central nervous system demyelinating disease that usually follows an apparently benign infection in otherwise healthy young persons. The epidemiology, infectious antecedents and pathogenesis of ADEM are poorly characterized, and some ADEM patients are subsequently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS We retrospectively (19...

BACKGROUND Enterovirus infection is a cause of cardiomyopathy. We previously demonstrated that enteroviral protease 2A directly cleaves the cytoskeletal protein dystrophin. However, the direct effect of protease 2A in enteroviral cardiomyopathy is less clear because other viral proteins are also expressed with viral infection. METHODS AND RESULTS A transgenic mouse with inducible cardiac-rest...

Enterovirus 71 (EV 71) infections have high neurovirulence and fatality. Immune responses were assessed in 78 patients with EV 71 infection. EV 71 meningoencephalitis occurred more frequently in younger children and in boys. C-reactive protein levels were not elevated, although total leukocyte counts were increased in these patients. The CD40-ligand expression on T cells significantly decreased...

background and objectives: meningoencephalitis in iranian children is frequent, but encephalitis is rare .the frequency of hhv-6 and hhv-7 in central nervous system diseases of our children is unclear. the aim of this study was searching the dna-s of hhv-6 & hhv-7 in csf samples of children with meningoencephalitis  materials and methods: a cross sectional study (2007-2009) was done in ped...