West Nile Encephalitis in a previously healthy child: Evaluation for CCR5 Chemokine receptor mutation

Neuroinvasive disease seldom follows infection with West Nile virus, but is particularly rare in children. Most reported cases of West Nile virus encephalitis have occurred in older adults or the immunocompromised. Although individuals who are homozygous for a 32 base pair deletion in the chemokine receptor CCR5 have been shown to be resistant to infection with HIV-1, they have been reported to have in increased risk of developing severe disease following West Nile virus infection. Analysis of the presence of the CCR5 deletion has not been previously examined in children with West Nile neuroinvasive disease. We present a case of West Nile encephalitis in a previously healthy young child whom we evaluated for the presence of the CCR5δ32 mutation.