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
Case Reports
. 2025 Mar;97(3):e70314.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.70314.

Remdesivir for the Treatment of Human Coronavirus OC43 Encephalitis

Jacques Fourgeaud  1   2 , Pascal Turlure  3 , Marine Dupont  4 , Nicolas Veyrenche  1   2 , Clémence Busquet  3 , Sophie Alain  4 , Marianne Leruez-Ville  1   2 , Nolwenn M Dheilly  5 , Pierre Frange  1   2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Remdesivir for the Treatment of Human Coronavirus OC43 Encephalitis

Jacques Fourgeaud et al. J Med Virol. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is predominantly associated with mild respiratory infections. HCoV-OC43 also has neuroinvasive properties, and severe encephalitis has been described in immunocompromised patients, with fatal outcomes due to the lack of specific antiviral treatment. We report a case of severe febrile encephalitis attributed to HCoV-OC43 that progressively worsened over 3 months in a 65-year-old immunocompromised man. Clinical symptoms improved remarkably after treatment with remdesivir, with an increase of the Glasgow Coma Score from 8 to 14 within 7 days.

Keywords: encephalitis; human coronavirus OC43; immunodeficiency; remdesivir.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Brain magnetic resonance imaging. Fluid attenuated inversion recovery axial sequences showing multiple nonspecific hyperintensities distributed around the lateral ventricles (A) and in subcortical areas (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Monitoring of human coronavirus OC43 RNA load detected in the patient's nasopharyngeal swab from March 2023 to March 2024. HCoV‐OC43, human coronavirus OC43; Ct, cycle threshold.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dubé M., Le Coupanec A., Wong A. H. M., Rini J. M., Desforges M., and Talbot P. J., “Axonal Transport Enables Neuron‐to‐Neuron Propagation of Human Coronavirus OC43,” Journal of Virology 92 (2018): e00404‐18, 10.1128/jvi.00404-18. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Park H., Kim K.‐R., Huh H. J., et al., “Complications of the Central Nervous System in Pediatric Patients With Common Cold Coronavirus Infection During 2014–2019,” Journal of Korean Medical Science 38 (2023): e358, 10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e358. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jevšnik M., Steyer A., Pokorn M., et al., “The Role of Human Coronaviruses in Children Hospitalized for Acute Bronchiolitis, Acute Gastroenteritis, and Febrile Seizures: A 2‐Year Prospective Study,” PLoS One 11 (2016): e0155555. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Morfopoulou S., Brown J. R., Davies E. G., et al., “Human Coronavirus OC43 Associated With Fatal Encephalitis,” New England Journal of Medicine 375 (2016): 497–498. - PubMed
    1. Nilsson A., Edner N., Albert J., and Ternhag A., “Fatal Encephalitis Associated With Coronavirus OC43 in an Immunocompromised Child,” Infectious Diseases 52 (2020): 419–422. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources