CAT-SCRATCH FEVER ENCEPHALITIS

THIS IS a report of the first case of encephalitis associated with cat-scratch fever ever described. Over 100 cases¹ of this newly described syndrome of catscratch fever have been reported in the world's literature. In all instances the authors uniformly have emphasized the benign and self-limiting nature of the illness, and none has suggested the possibility of neurotropic activity of the unidentified virus. None has described the prolonged coma, prostration, convulsions, and neurological involvement observed in the case summarized here.

Although Dr. Lee Foshay of Cincinnati is credited with defining this clinical entity and developing the skin test for it, most of the articles on cat-scratch fever emanate from French medical centers,² only five articles appearing in American medical journals.³ The origin of cat-scratch fever is not definitely proved, and the isolation of the virus and reproduction of the disease in animals have not been achieved to