RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Neurological involvement during influenza infection has been described during epidemics and is often consistent with serious sequelae or death. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the etiologic agent involved in myelopathy post influenza-like syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: This investigation focuses on virus isolation from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from a 19-year-old male student presenting with clinical diagnosis of myelopathy post influenza-like syndrome. To achieve this goal, different cell cultures and molecular methodologies were carried out. RESULTS: Influenza virus A(H3N2) strain was isolated in MDCK cell culture; virus particles were observed under electron microscopy. Phylogenetics analyses showed that the Brazilian influenza A(H3N2) strains were closely related to the A/Perth/16/2009-like. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that influenza virus A(H3N2) strain was the cause of illness of the students. According to the Brazilian influenza virus sentinel surveillance data A/Perth/16/2009-LIKE (H3N2) strain has predominated during the 2010 influenza virus season in Brasília-DF.