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World J Clin Pediatr. Jun 9, 2026; 15(2): 114986
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.114986
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v15.i2.114986
Epidemiological trends and neurological outcomes of pediatric central nervous system infections in rural part of western India
Pushparaj Nilkanth Patil, Zubair Khan, Department of Pediatrics, NAMO Medical Education and Research Institute, Silvassa 396230, India
Darshankumar K Mahyavanshi, Department of Community Medicine, NAMO Medical Education and Research Institute, Silvassa 396230, India
Author contributions: Patil PN conceptualized and designed the study; Patil PN and Khan Z drafted the manuscript; Patil PN and Mahyavanshi DK performed data analysis and interpretation; Khan Z and Mahyavanshi DK conducted data collection and participant recruitment; all authors approved the final version for submission.
AI contribution statement: No AI tools were used for drafting, data analysis, or image creation; the manuscript was fully written and researched by the authors, with professional language editing and biostatistical analysis completed by third-party experts.
Institutional review board statement: The research protocol obtained approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, No. NAMOMERI-SVBCH/IEC/2023-24/218, dated 28/08/2025.
Informed consent statement: Given the retrospective nature of record review and anonymized data handling, the committee granted a waiver of informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and the de-identified dataset used for this retrospective study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request at the provided email address. As this study involved retrospective review of anonymized hospital records, informed consent for data sharing was not obtained; however, all data have been fully anonymized and the risk of patient identification is minimal. No additional unpublished data are available.
Corresponding author: Pushparaj Nilkanth Patil, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, NAMO Medical Education and Research Institute, Sayali Road, Silvassa 396230, India. piyush.patil05@gmail.com
Received: October 11, 2025
Revised: November 15, 2025
Accepted: January 22, 2026
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 221 Days and 2.8 Hours
Revised: November 15, 2025
Accepted: January 22, 2026
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 221 Days and 2.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study from the rural part of western India provides an analysis of pediatric central nervous system infections from resource limited setting. Viral encephalitis has overtaken bacterial meningitis as the leading cause, while tuberculous meningitis remains fatal with high disability. Seasonal clustering during the monsoon highlights environmental influences on transmission of disease. The findings emphasize the need for improved vaccination, vector control, rapid diagnostics, and rural neurocritical and rehabilitation services to reduce mortality and long-term sequelae.