Molecular identification of enteroviruses associated with aseptic meningitis in children from India

We identified and characterized enteroviruses associated with aseptic meningitis in children between April 2009 and March 2010. Enterovirus RNA was detected in 51 (45.5 %) of 112 CSF samples. Molecular typing by RT-PCR and sequencing of a partial VP1 region revealed the predominance of echovirus (ECV) 32 (n = 20), followed by ECV 11 (n = 10), ECV 13 and ECV 14 (n = 5 each), coxsackievirus (CV) B3 and CV B6 (n = 3 each), CV A2, CV A10 and ECV 30 (n = 1 each). Phylogenetic analysis of ECV 32 showed 0 to 4 % sequence divergence among strains of the present study and 20-23 % from the prototype Puerto Rico strain at the nucleotide level. This is the first report of ECV 32 associated with an aseptic meningitis epidemic and identification of seven different enterovirus serotypes (CV A2, CV A10, CV B3, CV B6, ECV 13, ECV 14 and ECV 32) in meningitis cases from India.