Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 15;59(3):222-225.
doi: 10.1007/s13312-022-2473-x. Epub 2022 Jan 9.

Profile of Neurological Manifestations in Children Presenting with Rickettsial Disease

S B Chiranth  1 , K R Ashwini  1 , Vykuntraju K Gowda  2 , K S Sanjay  1 , Maaz Ahmed  1 , G V Basavaraja  3
Affiliations

Profile of Neurological Manifestations in Children Presenting with Rickettsial Disease

S B Chiranth et al. Indian Pediatr. .

Abstract

Objective: To study the profile of neurological manifestation of rickettsial disease in children.

Methods: Review of hospital records was done in a tertiary care hospital for the period from January to December, 2020. Data of all the children fulfilling the inclusion criteria i.e., clinical criteria and serology were retrieved from the hospital records.

Results: Of the total 7974 children admitted over this period, 178 were diagnosed with rickettsial disease wherein 54 (33.3%) had neurological involvement. Convulsions (59%), altered sensorium (56%), headache (44%), meningeal signs (37%), ataxia, (11%), lateral rectus palsy (7.5%) and stroke (7.5%) were the major neurological manifestations. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis done in 30 (55%) children showed pleocytosis [median (IQR) cells 15 (3.75, 50)] with lymphocyte predominance [median (IQR) lymphocytes 11.5 (3, 38.75)] and elevated proteins [median IQR 41.5 (29.75,61)]. Neuroimaging abnormalities noticed were cerebral edema (n=7), cerebellar hyperintensities (n=5), basal ganglia infarcts (n=2) and hippocampal hyperintensities (n=1).

Conclusion: Early recognition of rickettsial infection as a cause of neurological manifestation would facilitate early specific management.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Sharma A, Mishra B. Rickettsial disease existence in India: resurgence in outbreaks with the advent of 20thcentury. Indian Journal of Health Sciences and Biomedical Research. 2020;13:5. doi: 10.4103/kleuhsj.kleuhsj_162_19. - DOI
    1. Rathi N, Rathi A. Rickettsial infections: Indian pers-pective. Indian Pediatr. 2010;47:157–64. doi: 10.1007/s13312-010-0024-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rathi N, Rathi A, Goodman M, Aghai Z. Rickettsial diseases in central India: Proposed clinical scoring system for early detection of spotted fever. Indian Pediatr. 2011;48:867–72. doi: 10.1007/s13312-011-0141-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rathi N, Kulkarni A, Yewale V. IAP Guidelines on Rickettsial Diseases in Children. Indian Pediatr. 2017;54:223–29. doi: 10.1007/s13312-017-1035-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rathi N, Maheshwari M, Khandelwal R. Neurological manifestations of rickettsial infections in children. Pediatr Infect Dis. 2015;7:64–66.

LinkOut - more resources