Molecular Epidemiology of Enteroviruses Detected at the Virology Laboratory of Brest University Hospital During the Period 2018-2024: Retrospective Analysis of an Atypical Meningitis Epidemic in 2024 (BrEcho9Men) (BrEcho9Men)

Molecular Epidemiology of Enteroviruses Detected at the Virology Laboratory of Brest University Hospital During the Period 2018-2024: Retrospective Analysis of an Atypical Meningitis Epidemic in 2024

This study is being done to learn more about enterovirus infections detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients at CHU de Brest. Researchers will analyze medical records and laboratory data collected between 2018 and 2024. They will look at how these infections present in patients, and whether a specific virus type, called Echo-9, may be associated with different clinical features or represent an emerging variant.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Enterovirus Infections; Meningitis, Viral; Meningitis Enterovirus; Echovirus 9

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 270

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Brest, France, 29200
    • CHU Brest

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with a cerebrospinal fluid sample positive for enterovirus by RT-PCR performed at the virology laboratory of CHU de Brest between 2018 and 2024. This includes patients managed at CHU de Brest as well as at partner hospitals in Finistère (France) whose samples were processed centrally.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample positive for enterovirus by RT-PCR between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2024 , performed at the virology laboratory of CHU de Brest.
• No documented opposition to the use of medical data for research purposes.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients under legal protection (guardianship, curatorship, etc.)
• Refusal to participate in the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Phylogenetic analysis of Echo-9 strains detected between 2018 and 2024	Molecular characterization and phylogenetic comparison of Echo-9 strains detected at CHU de Brest and throughout France between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2024, to identify a possible emerging variant.	January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Temporal distribution of enterovirus infections documented at CHU de Brest	Weekly quantification of enterovirus-positive cases (by RT-PCR) detected at CHU de Brest from 2018 to 2024. Comparison with national surveillance data from the French National Reference Center to detect atypical epidemic peaks, with a focus on 2024.	January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024
Clinical characteristics of enterovirus-positive CSF cases	Among patients with cerebrospinal fluid samples positive for enterovirus between 2018 and 2024, clinical features will be described, including headache intensity, clinical severity, infection site (CSF, throat, stool, nasopharyngeal samples), and use of morphine. Subgroup comparisons may be conducted according to enterovirus genotype and year of infection, depending on the results of molecular typing.	January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024
Biological characteristics of enterovirus-positive CSF samples	Among patients with cerebrospinal fluid samples positive for enterovirus between 2018 and 2024, biological parameters from positive samples will be described. For cerebrospinal fluid samples, variables include white blood cell count with differential, protein level, and the cerebrospinal fluid to blood glucose ratio. The presence or absence of additional positive samples (throat, stool, nasopharyngeal swabs) will also be documented.	January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2024

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Brest

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 3, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 3, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 10, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 3, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: France; Surveillance; Enterovirus; outbreak; RT-PCR; Retrospective study; Echovirus 9; Viral meningitis; Molecular epidemiology; Phylogenetic analysis; Emerging variant; France epidemiology
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neuroinflammatory Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Picornaviridae Infections; Central Nervous System Viral Diseases; Central Nervous System Infections; Meningitis; Enterovirus Infections; Meningitis, Viral
• Other Study ID Numbers: 29BRC25.0054 - BrEcho9Men

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: All collected data that underlie results in a publication
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will be available beginning three years and ending fifteen years following the final study report completion
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Data access requests will be reviewed by the internal committee of Brest UH. Requestors will be required to sign and complete a data access agreement
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No