ABSTRACT
We describe the case of an 11-year-old Bolivian boy with parotitis and aseptic meningitis to demonstrate that parainfluenza virus type 2 can cause disseminated infection in a normal child. Parainfluenza virus type 2 was isolated from nasopharyngeal and CSF specimens from the patient and was confirmed to be parainfluenza virus type 2 by hemadsorption inhibition and by complement fixation. Parainfluenza virus type 2 may cause aseptic meningitis and parotitis.
Subject(s)
Meningitis, Aseptic/complications , Meningitis, Aseptic/virology , Meningitis, Viral/complications , Parainfluenza Virus 2, Human , Paramyxoviridae Infections/complications , Parotitis/complications , Parotitis/virology , Child , Humans , Male , Meningitis, Aseptic/cerebrospinal fluid , Meningitis, Aseptic/diagnosis , Meningitis, Viral/cerebrospinal fluid , Meningitis, Viral/diagnosis , Nasopharynx/virology , Parainfluenza Virus 2, Human/classification , Parainfluenza Virus 2, Human/isolation & purification , Paramyxoviridae Infections/cerebrospinal fluid , Paramyxoviridae Infections/diagnosis , Parotitis/cerebrospinal fluid , Parotitis/diagnosisABSTRACT
Although mumps virus is the most common and, therefore, best known cause of parotitis, other causes are not infrequent and need to be distinguished from mumps. Knowledge of the various clinical presentations of parotitis and judicious use of a few ancillary tests will facilitate differential diagnosis.
