Abstract
Acute enterovirus (EV) meningitis is a frequent cause of hospitalisation, and over 100 EV serotypes may be involved. A total of 215 patients of all ages with meningitis signs were investigated in 2 Tunisian hospitals. Their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was analysed retrospectively for EVs with a TaqMan real-time RT-qPCR. The virus strains were typed, and their evolutionary relationships were determined by Bayesian phylogenetic methods. An EV genome was detected in 21/215 patients (9.8%). The CSF viral loads ranged from 3.27 to 5.63 log10 genome copies/mL. The strains were identified in 13/21 patients and assigned to EV-B types. Viruses identified in Tunisian patients were genetically related to variants detected in France. The viral loads were similar in Tunisian and French patients for most EV types. The phylogenetic data and viral loads determined in Tunisian and French patients suggest that close EV variants were involved in aseptic meningitis in the 2 countries over a same period.
•Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was analysed in 215 Tunisian patients with suspicion of aseptic meningitis.•CSF tested positive for EV in 21/215 patients (9.8%).•EV strains in Tunisian patients were closely related to those circulating in France.•CSF viral loads were similar in Tunisian and French patients for most EV types.•Similar EV types cocirculated in France and Tunisia over the period studied.