lymphocytic choriomeningitis

Related to lymphocytic choriomeningitis: lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM)

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis



Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) is a viral infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord and of the cerebrospinal fluid.


Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection is relatively rare and recovery usually occurs spontaneously within a couple of weeks. Many cases are probably not even identified because the symptoms range from extremely mild to those resembling severe flu. A few patients develop symptoms of meningitis. In some rare cases, the LCM viral infection can spread throughout the central nervous system, and may even be fatal.

Causes and symptoms

LCM is caused by an arenavirus, which is an RNA virus and is a mild cousin in the family containing the much more threatening arenaviruses that cause hemmorrhagic fever. Humans acquire LCM virus from infected rodents by coming in contact with the animals or their excretions. Exposure to the virus is not as unlikely to occur as it seems, because the viral hosts can be common house mice and even pets, such as hamsters and chinchillas. Most cases of LCM occur in fall and winter, when mice seek warmth inside dwellings. Food and dust can become contaminated by the excretions of rodents infected with LCM virus. In 1997, French scientists alerted physicians to suspect LCM viral infection in people who had contact with Syrian hamsters.
The symptoms of LCM occur in two phases. The first (prodrome) stage can produce fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, and vomiting. In the second phase, characteristic meningitis symptoms of headache, stiff neck, listlessness, and nausea and vomiting may occur. In adults, complications are rare and recovery may even occur before the second phase.
The virus is not spread from person to person, except through pregnancy. LCM virus is one of the few viruses that can cross the placenta from mother to child during pregnancy and may be an underrecognized cause of congenital infection in newborns. Infection with cytomegalovirus, Toxoplasma gondii, or LCM virus can appear similar enough in infants to be confused when diagnosed. In cases that have been recognized among infants, LCM viral infection has a high mortality rate (about one-third of the babies studied died).

Key terms

Prodrome — Symptom(s) experienced prior to the onset of a disease. For example, visual disturbances may precede and signal the onset of a migraine headache.


LCM can be distinguished from bacterial meningitis by the history of prodrome symptoms and the period of time before meningitis symptoms begin, which is about 15-21 days for LCM.


No antiviral agents exist for LCM virus. Treatment consists of supporting the patient and treating the symptoms until the infection subsides, generally within a few weeks.


cerebral meningitis with lymphocytic infiltration of the choroid plexus.
lymphocytic choriomeningitis a form of viral meningitis caused by an arenavirus; it usually occurs during the fall and winter months in adults between the ages of 20 and 40.

lym·pho·cyt·ic cho·ri·o·men·in·gi·tis (LCM),

a form of viral meningitis that usually occurs in young adults during the fall and winter months. Caused by a virus carried by the common house mouse.
See also: lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus.

lymphocytic choriomeningitis

Etymology: L, lympha + Gk, kytos, cell, chorion, skin, meninx, membrane, itis, inflammation
an arenavirus infection of the meninges and the cerebrospinal fluid. It is caused by the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and characterized by fever, headache, and stiff neck often complicated by aseptic meningitis. The infection occurs primarily in young adults, most often in the fall and winter months. Recovery usually takes place within 2 weeks.

lymphocytic choriomeningitis

An aseptic meningitis of low morbidity caused by an arenavirus, transmitted through rodent excreta, affecting adults in winter, when rodents move indoors Clinical Biphasic fever with flu Sx, followed by meningitis with fever, headache, lymphocytosis in CSF, often with leukopenia and thrombocytopenia–which may be a hyperimmune response DiffDx Infectious mononucleosis, enterovirus, HZV R

lym·pho·cyt·ic chor·i·o·men·in·gi·tis

(lim'fō-sit'ik kōr'ē-ō-men'in-jī'tis)
See also: lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus

lymphocytic choriomeningitis

An acute viral MENINGITIS caused by an arenavirus, the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, spread by house mice.There is fever, aches and pains, a brief recovery, then a second stage with recurrenceof fever, headache and sometimes meningeal symptoms such as stiff neck. The condition is usually mild with complete recovery.


cerebral meningitis with inflammation of the choroid plexus.

lymphocytic choriomeningitis
see lymphocytic choriomeningitis.
References in periodicals archive ?
Transplacental infection by lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus.
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis outbreak associated with pet hamsters.
Trace-forward investigation of mice in response to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus outbreak.
Two epizootics of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus occurring in laboratory mice despite intensive monitoring programs.
5 months of age, he was referred to a geneticist, who requested multiple tests, including tests for rubella, CMV, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis.
Additional serologic tests found no significant reactions to other arthropodborne and zoonotic pathogens, including New World arenaviruses, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, hantaviruses, other Bunyaviridae, Filoviridae, Flaviviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Togaviridae, spotted-fever-group and typhus-group rickettsia, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Coxiella burnetii.