Angiostrongylus cantonensis Meningoencephalitis in Three Pediatric Patients in Florida, USA

Melinda D Chance; Anniesha D Noel; Amelia B Thompson; Natalie Marrero; Fernando Bula-Rudas; Christopher M Horvat; Jerril Green; Jennifer E Armstrong; Fatma Levent; Robert A Dudas; Serena Shaffren; Aaron Samide; Katie Martinez; Kimberly Stockdale; Rebecca J Chancey

doi:10.1093/jpids/piae113

Angiostrongylus cantonensis Meningoencephalitis in Three Pediatric Patients in Florida, USA

J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2024 Nov 12:piae113. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piae113. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ AdventHealth for Children, Orlando, Florida, USA.
² Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
³ UPMC Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁴ St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, Tampa, Florida, USA.
⁵ Florida Department of Health, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
⁶ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

PMID: 39529387
DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piae113

Abstract

Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis has been reported in several southern U.S. states and Hawai'i. We present the first locally acquired human cases of A. cantonensis meningoencephalitis in three children in Florida, occurring between June 2021 and January 2022. Clinicians should be attuned to this possible diagnosis in this region.

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.