Powassan virus, a rare tick-borne illness, infected a five-month old infant in November 2016, according to a CDC report.
Here are five things to know:
1. The infant did not have a travel history, but the parents confirmed a tick bit the child two weeks prior to the hospitalization.
2. Providers conducted a head computed tomography scan, complete blood count and serum electrolytes testing, which indicated all were within normal range. A cerebrospinal fluid culture and respiratory viral culture were negative as well as testing for encephalitis' common nonarboviral causes.
3. Clinical and MRI findings confirmed the Powassan virus infected the infant. Providers controlled the infant's seizures with anticonvulsant therapy with fosphenytoin and levetiracetam and discharged the infant after seven days on oral levetiracetam.
4. After one month following the symptom's onset, the parents said the infant could not sit unaided. However, four months after the symptom's onset, the CDC report stated the infant had normal motor and verbal development. He did not receive any more physical or occupational therapy and no longer required antiepileptics.
The report stated, "A second MRI performed four months after the first revealed gliosis and encephalomalacia in the thalami and basal ganglia bilaterally, with volume loss and evidence of early mineralization in the left basal ganglia."
5. There were seven confirmed U.S. cases POWC cases annually between 2006 and 2015. This case marks the first confirmed human POWV infection in Connecticut to date.
