Sero-epidemiology of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis in Delhi

Between 1986 and early 1989, 47 patients of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) were referred to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi from different hospitals of Delhi. They were 40 (87%) males and 7 (13%) females. The age at onset of illness ranged from 4 to 18 yr. Thirty (63.9%) patients gave history of measles attack in the first two years of life. All but one patient gave a past history of measles attack. Only one patient gave history of measles immunization. The titres of haemagglutination inhibiting antibodies to measles virus in serum in SSPE patients ranged from 1:8 to 1:2048 and in CSF from 1:4 to 1:256, while in control group, it ranged from 1:2 to 1:128 in serum and nil to 1:2 in CSF. The geometric means of haemagglutination inhibiting antibodies in serum and CSF of SSPE patients were 10 and 15 times higher than in the control group.