Encephalitis and cytokine storm secondary to respiratory viral infection among children: case report

The lead researcher was Santos et al., with Duke University and the University of Maryland colleagues.

Respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza virus is mainly associated with respiratory presentations. The inflammatory phenomena from Encephalitis secondary to viral agents present an exacerbated host response called a cytokine storm.

The link between infectious agents and neurologic syndromes causing cytokine storm is rare. There needs to be more elaboration on underlying pathophysiology because it needs to be better understood.

The present case report is of a 5-year-old female and a 2-year-old male. These two children were infected with parainfluenza and respiratory syncytial virus, respectively. Nasopharyngeal PCR made the confirmation.

The children were admitted into the pediatric ICU (intensive care unit). The main reason for hospital admission was Encephalitis and multiple organ dysfunction. The manifestations recorded were seizures and hemodynamic instability.

The findings from the MRI findings revealed that:

• The first patient had bilateral hyper signal on FLAIR in the cerebral hemispheres (posterior parietal and occipital regions). During the acute phase, IL-6 was elevated and evolved with a fast recovery of the clinical presentations.
• The second patient had general systemic complications, followed by cerebral edema and death.

Finally concluding, the researchers said that.

Encephalitis, secondary to respiratory viral infection, evolves with cytokine storm and multiorgan inflammatory response in children.

Further reading:

Encephalitis and cytokine storm secondary to respiratory viruses in children: 2 case reports. Front. Pediatr. Sec. Pediatric Critical Care Volume 10 - 2022 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.1049724