An unusual case of adenovirus meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent adolescent girl

Human adenoviruses can cause infections at any age, but most commonly involve the paediatric population. Adenoviruses may cause a wide spectrum of diseases depending on the infecting serotype. The various clinical entities include respiratory illnesses, conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, cystitis, and meningo-encephalitis. Here we present an uncommon case of the latter in an adolescent girl, diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid RT-PCR. These include mild aseptic meningitis, subacute focal encephalitius, myelitis, Reye syndrome and potentially fatal acute necrotizing encephalopathy, but are all rare in an immunocompetent host.