Flaviviruses as agents of childhood central nervous system infections in Brazil

Abstract

Flaviviruses are agents of a major emerging human public health issue and members of this genus have been associated with central nervous system (CNS) infections. In Brazil, a country endemic for some arboviruses, the most clinically relevant neurotropic flaviviruses include Dengue virus and Zika virus. Flaviviruses cause diseases ranging from mild or sub-clinical infections to severe cases as CNS infections. There is a lack of data about the incidence of flaviviruses in the CNS of children in Brazil. In this review, we provide a general overview of several flaviviruses that cause CNS infections in Brazilian children and explore the importance of epidemiological surveillance of CNS infections in cases of flavivirus infections. Keywords: Brazil, central nervous system, cerebrospinal fluid, children, dengue virus, flavivirus, Saint Louis encephalitis virus, Zika virus