Emerging Cases of Powassan Virus Encephalitis in New England: Clinical Presentation, Imaging, and Review of the Literature.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Powassan virus (POWV) is a rarely diagnosed cause of encephalitis in the United States. In the Northeast, it is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis, the same vector that transmits Lyme disease. The prevalence of POWV among animal hosts and vectors has been increasing. We present 8 cases of POWV encephalitis from Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 2013-2015.

Methods

We abstracted clinical and epidemiological information for patients with POWV encephalitis diagnosed at 2 hospitals in Massachusetts from 2013 to 2015. We compared their brain imaging with those in published findings from Powassan and other viral encephalitides.

Results

The patients ranged in age from 21 to 82 years, were, for the most part, previously healthy, and presented with syndromes of fever,

SUBMITTER: Piantadosi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4850925 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature