RESUMEN
Acute infections of the central nervous system (CNS) can be caused by various pathogens. In this study, the presence of herpesviruses (HHV), enteroviruses (EVs), and arboviruses were investigated in CSF samples from 165 patients with suspected CNS viral infection through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcriptase PCR. The genomes of one or more viral agents were detected in 29.7% (49/165) of the CSF samples. EVs were predominant (16/49; 32.6%) followed by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (22.4%), Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) (20.4%), Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (18.4%), herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) (4.1%), (HSV-2) (4.1%), and the arboviruses (14.3%). Four of the arboviruses were of dengue virus (DENV) and three of oropouche virus (OROV). The detection of different viruses in the CNS of patients with meningitis or encephalitis highlight the importance of maintaining an active laboratory monitoring diagnostics with rapid methodology of high sensitivity in areas of viral hyperendemicity that may assist in clinical decisions and in the choice of antiviral therapy.