[Isolation of Coxsackieviruses B5 in a fatal case of meningoencephalitis].

A nine months 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 glucose, 30 red cells/mm3 and 5 leukocytes/mm3. Blood count showed a packed red cell volume of 22%, a hemoglobin of 7 g/dl, 14800 leukocytes with 1% eosinophils, 5% band and 39% segmented neutrophils, 50% lymphocytes and 5% 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 in 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 stools were sent for virological study. A Coxsackie B-5 virus was isolated from the spinal cord sample.