EMBARGO DATE: Tuesday, May 4, 1999
Media Contact: Kate Deely 619-543-6427
FIRST TREATMENT FOR VIRAL MENINGITIS PROVES EFFECTIVE: UCSD Pediatrician Presents Findings at Pediatric Society Annual Meeting
Researchers at University of California, San Diego, Children's Hospital San Diego and elsewhere found a promising new drug shown to be effective in treating viral meningitis in children -- the first treatment of its kind. Mark H. Sawyer, M.D., UCSD Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and John Bradley, M.D., Director of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Children's Hospital San Diego, found that a new class of drugs, oral pleconaril, is effective in treating enteroviruses in children. In an international study, oral pleconaril has been shown to stop the virus from multiplying and reduce the symptoms of enterovirus disease. Enteroviruses are the leading cause of viral meningitis, the most common central nervous system infection in human. Viral meningitis is a benign illness, but it usually requires extensive hospital stays, according to Dr. Sawyer. "This new drug may ultimately reduce hospital stays by shortening the duration of the illness and its symptoms." The placebo-controlled, double-blind study tested the efficacy of oral pleconaril in the treatment of viral meningitis in the United States, Panama, Chile, South Africa and Poland. A total of 221 children, ages 4 to 14, suffering from headaches and at least one other symptom of viral meningitis, were randomized in treatment groups within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. The groups receiving oral pleconaril had shorter and less severe enteroviral meningitis symptoms than the placebo group, and no significant side effects were seen, Dr. Sawyer said. "This is the first large study done on this drug and it looks promising as the first treatment for viral meningitis," according to Dr. Sawyer. The same drug is being tested for treating adult viral meningitis and could also possibly be used to treat other infections caused by enterovirus. Oral pleconaril was developed by Viropharma, a pharmaceutical company in Pennsylvania that funded the study. Clinical trials took place at: Children's Hospital San Diego; Hospital del Nino, Panama; Hospital San Borja Arriaran, Chile; Universidad de Chile, Chile; and Creighton University, Nebraska.
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During the meeting, please call the Moscone Convention Center press room at 415-905-1001 to speak with researchers or [email protected].
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