TY - JOUR
T1 - Emerging Viral Infections and Their Impact on the Global Burden of Neurological Disease
AU - Muñoz, Laura S.
AU - Garcia, Maria A.
AU - Gordon-Lipkin, Eliza
AU - Parra, Beatriz
AU - Pardo, Carlos A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The Neuroviruses Emerging in the Americas Study (NEAS) is supported by the Bart McLean Fund for Neuroimmu-nology Research and the Johns Hopkins Project Restore. This work was partially funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no. 734584.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Emerging viral infections of the nervous system represent a major global public health concern in the 21st century. They are caused primarily by RNA viruses and are mostly associated with acute or subacute encephalitis. The spectrum of associated central or peripheral nervous system disorders is broad, and results either from a direct viral effect or due to the host immune responses against the infection. Emerging viral infections impose substantial neurological morbidity and mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income regions. In the past five decades, vector-borne viruses primarily transmitted by arthropods, or arboviruses, have been responsible for epidemics with a high burden of neurological disease, like the 2015-2016 Zika virus epidemic in the Americas. Viruses that have become neurovirulent for humans after geographical expansion include West Nile, Dengue, and Zika viruses. Factors such as animal migration, disruption of ecological niches, and cross-species contact have caused old viruses to reappear and cause neurological disease, as is the case of Ebola virus. In addition to these biological challenges, current preventive strategies, vaccination, and diagnostic and therapeutic approaches remain limited. We review the clinical-virological features and global impact of the most relevant emerging viral infections of the nervous system as they are projected over the 21st century.
AB - Emerging viral infections of the nervous system represent a major global public health concern in the 21st century. They are caused primarily by RNA viruses and are mostly associated with acute or subacute encephalitis. The spectrum of associated central or peripheral nervous system disorders is broad, and results either from a direct viral effect or due to the host immune responses against the infection. Emerging viral infections impose substantial neurological morbidity and mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income regions. In the past five decades, vector-borne viruses primarily transmitted by arthropods, or arboviruses, have been responsible for epidemics with a high burden of neurological disease, like the 2015-2016 Zika virus epidemic in the Americas. Viruses that have become neurovirulent for humans after geographical expansion include West Nile, Dengue, and Zika viruses. Factors such as animal migration, disruption of ecological niches, and cross-species contact have caused old viruses to reappear and cause neurological disease, as is the case of Ebola virus. In addition to these biological challenges, current preventive strategies, vaccination, and diagnostic and therapeutic approaches remain limited. We review the clinical-virological features and global impact of the most relevant emerging viral infections of the nervous system as they are projected over the 21st century.
KW - emerging viral infection
KW - encephalitis
KW - myelitis
KW - viral diseases
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047460666&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85047460666&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1055/s-0038-1647247
DO - 10.1055/s-0038-1647247
M3 - Article
C2 - 29791942
AN - SCOPUS:85047460666
SN - 0271-8235
VL - 38
SP - 163
EP - 175
JO - Seminars in neurology
JF - Seminars in neurology
IS - 2
ER -