Viral antibody in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with acute central nervous system infections.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera from 129 patients of a study population of 139 were tested for antibody to herpes simplex, measles,and mumps viruses. Herpes simplex virus antibody was found in three of five patients with laboratory-confirmed herpes simplex infection and in eight patients without serological or virological evidence of current infection with this or other common neurotropic visuses. Eleven of the 139 patients were studied for antibody to lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus. Eight of these had laboratory-confirmed LCM infection, and antibody was detected in the CSF of five of them. In one of these five, complement-fixing antibody appeared earlier in the CSF than in the blood. Assay of LCM virus antibody in the CSF may thus indicate infection with LCM virus more rapidly than serological and virological studies. The diagnostic and the possible prognostic significance of herpes simplex visus antibody in CSF remains to be ascertained.