Shingles Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Shingles, including details on symptoms, treatment, causes, virus.

Anti-basal ganglia antibodies and acute movement disorder following herpes zoster and streptococcal infections.

Basheer SN, Wadsworth LD, Bjornson BH

Division of Neurology, British Columbia Children's Hospital and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Anti-basal ganglia antibodies (ABGA) have been associated with poststreptococcal encephalitis similar to encephalitis lethargica (EL). We report two children with parainfectious encephalitis of similar phenotype and IgG ABGA. However, the associated pathogens in the two cases differed; beta-hemolytic streptococcus and herpes zoster. ABGA may not be specific to poststreptococcal encephalitis, but rather a surrogate marker of an inflammatory mediated movement disorder, which may respond to immunotherapy.

Published 5 March 2007 in Eur J Paediatr Neurol, 11(2): 104-7.
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