ArticlePloS one2021
Etiology of acute meningitis and encephalitis from hospital-based surveillance in South Kazakhstan oblast, February 2017-January 2018.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex differences in bacterial meningitis and associations with socioeconomic indicators: a systematic review and meta-analysis with metaregression.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Global Case Fatality of Bacterial Meningitis During an 80-Year Period: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2024Pooled it
- Epidemiological trends and neurological outcomes of pediatric central nervous system infections in rural part of western India.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2026Article
- May bacterial meningitis pave the way for a toxoplasmosis flare-up: a cross-sectional study from Egypt.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Foreign Contaminants Target Brain Health.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Determining the bacterial and viral meningitis trend in Iraq from 2007 till 2023 using joinpoint regression.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Genetic Diversity of Human Enterovirus in Kazakhstan, during 2022.International journal of microbiology · 2024Article
- The Worldwide Prevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus Encephalitis and Meningitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Evolving etiologies, comorbidities, survival, and costs of care in adult encephalitis.Journal of neurovirology · 2023Article
- Epidemiological characteristics and climatic variability of viral meningitis in Kazakhstan, 2014-2019.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Encephalitis and meningitis (EM) are severe infections of the central nervous system associated with high morbidity and mortality. The etiology of EM in Kazakhstan is not clearly defined, so from February 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018 we conducted hospital-based syndromic surveillance for EM at the Shymkent City Hospital, in the South Kazakhstan region. All consenting inpatients meeting a standard case definition were enrolled. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected for bacterial culture, and CSF samples were additionally tested by PCR for four bacterial species and three viruses using a cascading algorithm. We enrolled 556 patients. Of these, 494 were of viral etiology (including 4 probable rabies cases), 37 were of bacterial etiology, 19 were of unknown etiology and 6 were not tested. The most commonly identified pathogens included enterovirus (73%, n = 406 cases), herpes simplex virus (12.8%, n = 71), and Neisseria meningitidis (3.8%, n = 21). The incidence rates (IRs) for enteroviral and meningococcal EM were found to be 14.5 and 0.7 per 100,000 persons, respectively. The IR for bacterial EM using both PCR and culture results was 3-5 times higher compared to culture-only results. Antibacterial medicines were used to treat 97.2% (480/494) of virus-associated EM. Incorporation of PCR into routine laboratory diagnostics of EM improves diagnosis, pathogen identification, ensures IRs are not underestimated, and can help avoid unnecessary antibacterial treatment.
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