Acute Childhood Encephalitis and Encephalopathy Associated With Influenza

Abstract

In this prospective registry, influenza virus infection was associated with 5% of ACE cases. The majority of children were <5 years of age and the prevalence of neuroimaging abnormalities was higher in children <2 years of age suggesting that younger children are predisposed to the neurologic complications of influenza. An acute rather than a postinfectious process was suggested by the briefness of the respiratory prodrome in most cases.