Diagnosis of CNS involvement questioned

The report of Dr. Klimek et al. (Pediatrics 58:133, July 1976) concerning the relationship between infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae and CNS disease recalls persisting difficulties in establishing the relationship between viral infection and CNS disease. Infection with a viral agent such as the varicella (VZ) virus may be associated with the detectable presence of the virus within the CNS (encephalitis, aseptic meningitis, etc.) or by inflammatory CNS disease in the absence of detectable evidence of the virus (parainfectious demyelinating disease or Reye's syndrome).1