Journal article

Acute Measles Encephalitis in Partially Vaccinated Adults

A Fox, TM Hung, H Wertheim, LNM Hoa, A Vincent, B Lang, P Waters, NH Ha, NV Trung, J Farrar, N Van Kinh, P Horby

Plos One | Published : 2013

Open access

Abstract

Background:The pathogenesis of acute measles encephalitis (AME) is poorly understood. Treatment with immune-modulators is based on theories that post-infectious autoimmune responses cause demyelination. The clinical course and immunological parameters of AME were examined during an outbreak in Vietnam.Methods and Findings:Fifteen measles IgM-positive patients with confusion or Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score below 13, and thirteen with uncomplicated measles were enrolled from 2008-2010. Standardized clinical exams were performed and blood collected for lymphocyte and measles- and auto-antibody analysis. The median age of AME patients was 21 years, similar to controls. Eleven reported receivin..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by European Commission


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the South East Asian Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Network (Jl Diponegoro no 69, Jakarta, Indonesia, 10430) and the Wellcome Trust of Great Britain. AF was supported by the European Union FP7 project "European Management Platform for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Entities (EMPERIE)" (no. 223498). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.