Manayani D J, Abraham M, Gnanamuthu C, Solomon T, Alexander M, Sridharan G
Department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore - 632 004, India.
Indian J Med Microbiol. 2002 Jan-Mar;20(1):16-8.
To assess the prevalence of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).
In the period June 96 to December' 98 an analysis for measles virus (MV) antibody was carried out on 103 serum-CSF pairs received from patients clinically suspected of SSPE. Measles antibody was detected in an indirect immunofluorescent assay (IIF) test.
Antibody to measles was detectable in 49 (48%) of the serum-CSF pairs tested, a diagnostic criterion for SSPE. Antibody titers ranged from 20 to 1280 in serum and neat to 32 in CSF. The serum: CSF ratio ranged from 5:1 to 80:1. Of the 49 patients diagnosed to have SSPE, 36 were males and 13 females, and the age of the patients at the time of diagnosis of SSPE ranged from 5 to 26 years. Ten of the SSPE patients gave a history of measles vaccination.
Inadequate vaccine coverage and quality of vaccine used continue to have an impact on occurrence of SSPE.
