Clinical and molecular epidemiology of enterovirus infections in cerebrospinal fluid samples, 2019–2023

We performed a comparative, retrospective analysis (March 2019–April 2023) of children diagnosed with non-polio enterovirus (NPEV) central nervous system (CNS) infections (n = 47 vs. 129 contemporaneous controls without NPEV, all <18 years old), requiring cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing upon presentation to hospital. We found that showed that admissions decreased during pandemic restrictions (13% vs. controls 33%, p = 0.003). The median age of children with NPEV was 41 days (IQR: 18–72), most were male (n = 76, 59%) and were less likely to present with symptoms of irritability (11% vs. controls 26%, p = 0.04), but more likely to be febrile (93% vs. controls 73%, p = 0.007), have higher respiratory rates (mean 44 bpm, SD 11, vs. controls 36 bpm, SD 14, p = 0.001), higher heart rates (mean 171 bpm, SD 27 vs. controls 141 bpm, SD 36, p < 0.001), higher CSF protein (median 0.66 g/L, interquartile range [IQR] 0.46–1.01, vs. controls 0.53 mg/mL, IQR 0.28–0.89, p = 0.04), higher CSF white cell count (WCC) (median WCC 9.5×10⁶/L, IQR 1–16 vs. controls 3.15×10⁶/L, IQR 2.7–3.6, p < 0.001), but lower CSF glucose (median 2.8 mmol/L, IQR 2.4–3.1 vs. controls 3.1 mmol/L, IQR 2.7–3.6, p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis showed that these NPEVs originated from Europe (EV A71, CV B4, E21, E6, CV B3, CV B5, E7, E11, E18), North America (CV B4, E18), South America (E6), Middle East (CV B5), Africa (CV B5, E18), South Asia (E15), East/Southeast Asia (E25, CV A9, E7, E11, E18), and Australia (CV B5).