Viral encephalitis

For patient information, click here

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

<youtube v=F2jB-U3VXp0/>

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.

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