| Abstract | | Aseptic meningitis is an acute infection of the meninges. Common causes of aseptic meningitis in childhood are viruses, mostly enteroviruses. With half of the patients the cause remains unidentified. Aseptic meningitis is also caused by a bacteria B. burgdorferi sensu lato that causes Lyme borreliosis (LB). Slovenia is an endemic region for LB. A characteristic clinical sign for LB is a solitary skin lesion called erythema migrans (EM). It usually develops at the site of a tick bite. Early Lyme neuroborreliosis is a result of a central nervous system infection caused by bacteria B. burgdorferi sensu lato. Aseptic meningitis is one of the manifestations of early Lyme neuroborreliosis. It is an early disseminated form of LB. The number of patients with LB in Slovenia is increasing every year. The Lyme meningitis can be treated with antibiotics and this permits prevention of the development of chronic Lyme neuroborreliosis. Early diagnosis is thus very important. The diagnosis of Lyme meningitis is easy when there is EM accompanying the meningitis. But when a patient presents with aseptic meningitis and no typical clinical sign of LB (EM, peripheral facial nerve palsy, borrelial lymphocytoma) microbiological confirmation of borrelial infection is needed. We can also use clinical criteria for diagnosing Lyme meningitis. There is not much data in the literature regarding demographic characteristics, clinical findings and laboratory results for children with Lyme meningitis, and comparisons of these data with children that have non-Lyme meningitis. The aim of our prospective study was to determine the incidence of Lyme meningitis in children with syndrome of acute aseptic meningitis, their demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings. We also wanted to determine whether there are differences between children with Lyme meningitis and those with non-Lyme meningitis. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters)
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