Viral Etiologies of Meningitis in Patients with Presumed Pyogenic Meningitis at University Hospitals in Ethiopia

Alene Geteneh,1 Tesfaye Kassa,2 Derbie Alemu,3 Mulugeta Kiros,4 Henok Andualem,4 Admasu Tenna,5 Abebech Tesfaye,6 Dawit Hailu Alemayehu,6 Adane Mihret,6 Rawleigh Howe,6 Andargachew Mulu,6 Wude Mihret6 1Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Science, Woldia University, Woldia, Ethiopia; 2School of Medical Laboratory Science, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia; 3Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Arba Minch College of Health Science, Arba Minch, Ethiopia; 4Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Science, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia; 5School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 6Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Alene Geteneh Email aleneget@gmail.comIntroduction: Viral meningitis is common in most resource-limited settings, posing a challenge for the management and prognosis of suspected patients. No study has been done on the detection of either viral or viral–bacterial co-infection among presumed pyogenic meningitis cases in Ethiopia. We, therefore, aimed to determine the distribution of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human enteroviruses (HEVs) among patients with presumptive pyogenic meningitis at University hospitals in Ethiopia.Methods: Viral nucleic acid was extracted from 86 repository CSF samples, which were collected from patients presumptively diagnosed with pyogenic meningitis between 2012 and 2013. PCR was done consecutively to investigate the possible viral etiologic agents of meningitis.Results: HEVs were detected in 11 (12.8%) of the analyzed samples while none of the 86 samples were tested positive for CMV. Viral-bacterial co-infections were found among 4/11 (36.4%) confirmed cases. The majority of the patients (10/11) with HEVs were younger aged ≤ 19 years old.Conclusions: In this study, the magnitude of HEVs was shown to have a significant role in presumed pyogenic meningitis cases. Therefore, we recommend presumed