biostudies-literatureDamodar TDBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Fellowship IA/E/15/1/503960Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) (Project ID: 2021- 3668)National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)DBT/Wellcome Trust India AllianceWellcome Truste29666https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7616670biostudies-literatureUnknown96(5)Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in children poses a significant public health challenge in India. This study aims to explore the utility of host inflammatory mediators and neurofilament (NfL) levels in distinguishing etiologies, assessing disease severity, and predicting outcomes in AES. We assessed 12 mediators in serum (n = 58) and 11 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 42) from 62 children with AES due to scrub typhus, viral etiologies, and COVID-associated multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in Southern India. Additionally, NfL levels in serum (n = 20) and CSF (n = 18) were examined. Clinical data, including Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and Liverpool outcome scores, were recorded. Examining serum and CSF markers in the three AES etiology groups revealed notable distinctions, with scrJournal of medical virologyDiagnostic markers of acute encephalitis syndrome and COVID-associated multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children from Southern India.PMC7616670IA/CPHE/18/1/503960NIHR200907Dunai CDsouza FSBasavaraja GVRavi VSajjan SVKinhal UVMarate SSingh BGowda VKSolomon TMichael BDTurtle LTharmaratnam KDamodar TAkhila LMani RSAnusha Raj KLalitha AVJose MYadav RPrathyusha PVPrabhu NKolamunnage-Dona RfalseDiagnostic markers of acute encephalitis syndrome and COVID-associated multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children from Southern India.Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in children poses a significant public health challenge in India. This study aims to explore the utility of host inflammatory mediators and neurofilament (NfL) levels in distinguishing etiologies, assessing disease severity, and predicting outcomes in AES. We assessed 12 mediators in serum (n = 58) and 11 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 42) from 62 children with AES due to scrub typhus, viral etiologies, and COVID-associated multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) in Southern India. Additionally, NfL levels in serum (n = 20) and CSF (n = 18) were examined. Clinical data, including Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and Liverpool outcome scores, were recorded. Examining serum and CSF markers in the three AES etiology groups revealed notable distinctions, with scr2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 May2025-04-06T15:27:59.561Z2025-04-06T15:27:59.561ZS-EPMC76166703873856910.1002/jmv.29666