[Clinical characteristics and laboratory assay of adult Japanese encephalitis patients in an outbreak in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, 2006].

Abstract To study the clinical and laboratory characteristics of adult Japanese encephalitis (JE) patients in a JE outbreak in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province in 2006. All the clinical data from the Second People's Hospital in Yuncheng city were analyzed, part of patients' sera and cerebrospinal fluid were tested by serology and RT-PCR. The majority of patients were middle-aged and elderly, 77.8% (35/45) of the total cases were more than 40 years old. Severe and fulminating type cases accounted for 60.0% (27/45). Most patients had underlying diseases. IgM antibody to JE virus (JEV) in serum was positive in each of the 45 patients analyzed and 4-fold or greater rise in sera neutralization antibody titer were found in convalescent serum. JEV nucleic acid was positive in part of cerebrospinal fluid specimens. Viral encephalitis emerged in Yuncheng city, Shanxi Province was Japanese encephalitis B, and most of the cases belonged to elderly group.