EPIDEMICS OF ASEPTIC-MENINGITIS DUE TO ENTEROVIRUSES FOLLOWING NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION DAYS IN BAHRAIN

We report two successive epidemics of aseptic meningitis due to entero viruses (EV) observed after national immunization days against polio. Meningitis due to echovirus 30 occurred from July 1995 to the end of J anuary 1996, mostly among children aged 0-12 years (95.1% of cases), a nd meningitis due to echovirus 4 occurred from May 1996 to the end of September 1996 in the same age group. There were 286 and 169 cases, re spectively. Specimens from several representative cases were sent to t he WHO Collaborating Center for Virus Reference and Research Laborator y for serological testing and virus detection, including polymerase ch ain reaction (PCR) studies. Using those tests, evidence of echovirus 3 0 infection was found in 44% of the children who were sampled during t he first epidemic and 45.5% during the second. During echovirus 30 and echovirus 4 epidemics, a similar decline in the age-specific attack r ate from 19.1/10000 and 10.1/10000 population aged 12 years to 2.4/100 00 and 3.6/10000 population aged 13 years was observed, respectively.