Isolation of Coxsackieviruses B5 in a fatal case of meningoencephalitis

A 9 month old boy was admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of meningoencephalitis 15 days after having a clinically diagnosed chickenpox. Lumbar puncture showed clear CSF with 0.23 g/l of proteins, 57 mg/dl of glucpse, 30 red cells/mm3 and 5 leukocytes/mm3. Blood count showed a packed red cell volume of 22 percent, a hemoglobin of 7 g/dl, 14800 leukocytes with 1 percent eosinophils, 5 percent band and 39 percent segmented neutrophils, 50 percent lymphocytes and 5 percent monocytes and a decreased platelet count. On the fourth hospitalization day, the patient had vomiting, irritability and stiff neck. A new lumbar puncture showed a clear CSF that differed from the former only on the glucose level that increased to 102 mg/dl. The patient died and the necropsy showed a congestive and enlarged brain and congestive meninges infiltrated with lymphocytes. There was lymphoid follicle hyperplasia in the small bowel and enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes. Samples of brain, brain stem, spinal cord and tools were sent for virological study. A coxsakie B-5 virus was isolated from the spinal cord sample