Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases 2005-01-01

Failure of interferon alpha-2b in a patient with West Nile virus meningoencephalitis and acute flaccid paralysis.

Kirk M Chan-Tack, Graeme Forrest

Index: Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 37(11-12) , 944-6, (2005)

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Abstract

WNV infection can cause meningoencephalitis (MNE) and acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). Both syndromes are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Interferon alpha-2b (IFN-alpha-2b) inhibits WNV replication in vitro. To date, 5 patients with WNV-CNS disease have recovered neurologic function with IFN-alpha-2b. We report the first failure of IFN-alpha-2b in the treatment of WNV-MNE-AFP.