[Virological and immunological research on patients with influenza and acute respiratory diseases with central...

Virological examinations of the cerebrospinal fluid and nasopharyngeal washings from 96 patients with influenza and other acute respiratory viral diseases and of the autopsy material from 14 patients who had had symptoms of the involvement of the central nervous system permitted isolation of respiratory viruses and detection of viral antigens in the cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue. The level of immunoglobulins in the cerebrospinal fluid was found to be increased, however, their concentration did not exceed that in the blood serum which only indicates the possibility of their penetration through the hematoencephalic barrier. This factor, as well as the pattern of pathomorphological changes in the brain tissues indicate the toxicoallergic genesis of meningoencephalitis in acute respiratory diseases.