Viral encephalitis

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Viral encephalitis
ICD-10	A83-A86, B94.1, G05
ICD-9	323
DiseasesDB	22543
MeSH	D004660

Template:Encephalitis Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Diagnosis

Adult patients with encephalitis present with acute onset of fever, headache, confusion, and sometimes seizures. Younger children or infants may present with irritability, anorexia and fever.

Pathophysiology

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Medical Therapy

Treatment is usually symptomatic. Reliably tested specific antiviral agents are available only for a few viral agents (e.g. acyclovir for herpes simplex virus) and are used with limited success for most infection except herpes simplex encephalitis. In patients who are very sick, supportive treatment, such as mechanical ventilation, is equally important.

Encephalitis lethargica

Main article: Encephalitis lethargica

Encephalitis lethargica is an atypical form of encephalitis which caused an epidemic from 1917 to 1928. There have only been a small number of isolated cases since, though in recent years a few patients have shown very similar symptoms. The cause is now thought to be either a bacterial agent or an autoimmune response following infection.

Limbic system encephalitis

In a small number of cases, called limbic encephalitis, the pathogens responsible for encephalitis attack primarily the limbic system (a collection of structures at the base of the brain responsible for basic autonomic functions).

See also

• Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis
• Japanese Encephalitis
• St. Louis Encephalitis
• Equine Encephalitis
• Rasmussen's encephalitis
• La Crosse encephalitis
• Murray Valley encephalitis virus
• California encephalitis virus
• meningoencephalitis
• Tick-borne meningoencephalitis
• Herpes simplex