en Infectious diseases and public health Infectious diseases and public health Original article Original article <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Introduction</span></span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">: West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen of the <i>Flaviviridae</i> family with a global distribution. It is a significant cause of neurological diseases, including meningitis and encephalitis, in children. This study employed a SYBR Green-based real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay to detect and quantify WNV RNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from children presenting with meningitis and encephalitis<span style="background:white">. </span><b>Methods</b>: CSF samples (n=160) were collected from children diagnosed with aseptic meningitis or encephalitis at a single medical center in Karaj, Iran, from September 2019 to October 2020. Samples were analyzed by RT-qPCR, with viral loads quantified against a standard curve<b> </b>generated from serial dilutions of a plasmid containing the WNV capsid (C) gene<span style="background:white">.</span> <b>Results</b>: Two of 160 CSF samples (1.25%; 95% CI: 0.15&ndash;4.46%) were positive for WNV genomic RNA. The viral loads were 3.4 &times; 10&sup3; and 1.2 &times; 10⁵ copies per reaction in a 3-year-old female and a 4-year-old male patient, respectively<span style="background:white">. <b>Conclusion</b>: The low prevalence of WNV observed, coupled with the limited sample size and reports of higher prevalence in other regions, highlights the need<b> </b>for larger, multicenter studies to better define WNV epidemiology in children. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp;</div> &nbsp; <div></div><br> &nbsp; West Nile Virus, Meningitis, Encephalitis, Pediatric, Iran, RT-qPCR 310 314 http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-629-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyed Dawood Mousavi Nasab d.mosavinasab.1@gmail.com 0000-0002-4831-3108 No WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Rabies, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Zahra Ivani Zahraevani62@gmail.com 0000-0002-3751-8327 No Department of Animal Viral Vaccine, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (RVSRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran Fatemeh Rostami-Shakhoni 0009-0002-3963-5858 No Department of Quality Control, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran Bahman Khalesi Khalesi20022002@yahoo.com 0000-0001-5723-8624 No Department of Research and Production of Poultry Viral Vaccine, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran Zahra Farahani Farahaniparisa125@gmail.com 0000-0001-9367-6955 No Department of Microbiology, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran Mohammad Hassan Firouzjani 0000-0003-2783-4462 No Department of Therapeutic Sera Quality Control, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran Mehdi Fazlalipour mfp.virology@gmail.com 0000-0001-9367-6955 No WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Rabies, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Mostafa Ghaderi Ghaderi_viro@yahoo.com 0000-0002-8249-1231 Yes Department of Human Viral Vaccine, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran