Viral Encephalitis in England, 1989–1998: What Did We Miss?

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Davison, Katy L. ; Crowcroft, Natasha S. ; Ramsay, Mary E. ; Brown, David W.G. ; Andrews, Nick J
• Description:
  We analyzed hospitalizations in England from April 1, 1989, to March 31, 1998, and identified approximately 700 cases, 46 fatal, from viral encephalitis that occurred during each year; most (60%) were of unknown etiology. Of cases with a diagnosis, the largest proportion was herpes simplex encephalitis. Using normal and Poisson regression, we identified six possible clusters of unknown etiology. Over 75% of hospitalizations are not reported through the routine laboratory and clinical notification systems, resulting in underdiagnosis of viral encephalitis in England. Current surveillance greatly underascertains incidence of the disease and existence of clusters; in general, outbreaks are undetected. Surveillance systems must be adapted to detect major changes in epidemiology so that timely control measures can be implemented.
• Subjects:
  Adult Child Cluster Analysis Communicable Diseases, Emerging Databases, Factual Encephalitis, Viral Encephalitis Viruses England Epidemiology Episode Of Care Etiology Health Surveys Herpes Simplex Encephalitis Hospitalization Humans Incidence Outbreaks Research Surveillance Viral Encephalitis

  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 9(2):234-240
• Pubmed ID:
  12603996
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC2901942
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  9
• Issue:
  2
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8aeebebea55464d9f2d13e20ba04644123dd68a857f787708c6be0c79d0d953d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/13994/cdc_13994_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 267.04 KB ]