Viral antibodies in the CSF after acute CNS infections.

Viral antibodies were measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum from 25 patients having acute viral central nervous system (CNS) infections, and from 39 control patients. The results, collected two weeks after the clinical onset, revealed the presence of antibodies in nine of 13 (69%) CSF specimens from patients suffering from encephalitis of myelitis, and in only one of nine (11%) of the CSF samples of those presenting a viral meningitis infection. This difference was statistically significant and suggests that the titration of viral antibodies in the CSF can be helpful in establishing the diagnosis of viral CNS infection. Our data also suggest that localized production of antibodies occurs during the course of acute CNS infections, and that the respiratory syncytial virus can be associated with CNS infections in man.