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. 2001:1:14.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-1-14. Epub 2001 Sep 14.

Aseptic meningitis in Germany associated with echovirus type 13

S Diedrich  1 , E Schreier
Affiliations

Aseptic meningitis in Germany associated with echovirus type 13

S Diedrich et al. BMC Infect Dis. 2001.

Abstract

Background: Echoviruses are the commonest cause of aseptic meningitis. Echovirus type 13 which has not been isolated in Germany over a long period of time was the predominant enterovirus serotype associated with different local outbreaks of aseptic meningitis in Germany in 2000.

Methods: Virus isolation was performed from cerebrospinal fluid and stools. In order to study the genetic relationship of echovirus type 13 isolates, sequence analysis of a part of VP1 (~300 nt) was carried out. Isolates from different geographic regions were compared to each other as well as to elder viruses (prototype strain from 1953, four isolates from 1965-1986).

Results: Overall, 55 isolates of echovirus type 13 were obtained from different parts of Germany. It was shown that the new isolated strains have a very high degree of homology on the nucleotide level (> 98%)) but differ significantly from the old strains (76-85%).

Conclusions: a) Rare enterovirus serotypes can cause serious illness.b) The molecular drift has also been shown for other enterovirus serotypes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogenetic tree based on sequences from VP1 capsid protein showing genetic relationship between recent isolated and elder echovirus type 13 strains. For comparison echovirus type 4 (accession no. AF132497) has been included. The phylogramm was generated by using PHYLIP.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Aseptic meningitis cases in Germany 1996–2000 (reports to the Robert Koch Institute)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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