Echo Virus Type 30 Meningitis in Edinburgh

Abstract

Fifty-five patients with ECHO virus type 30 meningitis were admitted to the Infectious Diseases Unit, Edinburgh City Hospital between August and December 1980. There was a preponderance of males and patients aged 10–15 years. The peak admission rate was about two weeks earlier than that recorded for Scotland as a whole. Helpful diagnostic findings were headache, fever, photophobia, vomiting and nuchal rigidity but not Kernig's sign. Only one patient had a rash. The majority of patients were admitted within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. The CSF pleiocytosis was high and tended to be polymorphonuclear in type. CSF glucose concentrations were all normal. There were no serious sequelae. The considerable morbidity reported after leaving hospital emphasises the importance of adequate convalescence.