What causes adult encephalitis? What are the symptoms?

Encephalitis is a general term for inflammatory diseases of the brain parenchyma, with fever, impaired consciousness, epileptic seizures and diffuse brain function damage as the main clinical manifestations. So what are the causes of encephalitis?

Causes of encephalitis

It can be caused by infections such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, spirochetes, rickettsia, and parasites. Viral encephalitis can be divided into epidemic encephalitis and sporadic encephalitis. Epidemic encephalitis has a clear and obvious seasonality. In my country, epidemic encephalitis B is the most common, and there is also forest encephalitis in the forest areas of Northeast China. Epidemic encephalitis B is an insect-borne encephalitis that mostly occurs during the mosquito breeding season in July, August and September; forest encephalitis mostly occurs in May, June and July, and the cause of encephalitis is transmitted by ticks; sporadic encephalitis can occur throughout the year without obvious seasonality or regionality, among which herpes simplex virus encephalitis is the most common; viral encephalitis can also be caused by adenovirus, enterovirus, mumps virus, lentivirus, etc. Other bacteria that cause meningoencephalitis include Pneumococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus and fungi.

Symptoms Symptoms of encephalitis

Encephalitis can occur in different genders and ages, and is usually acute or subacute in onset, often accompanied by general symptoms such as fever and headache. The severity of neurological manifestations varies greatly. Mild cases may only have symptoms of serous meningitis such as headache, dizziness, and neck stiffness. When the lesions relapse severely, symptoms of encephalitis may include impaired consciousness, cranial nerve paralysis, limb paralysis, urinary and bowel disorders, convulsions, etc. As the disease progresses, the patient may fall into a deep coma and be in a decerebrate or decorticate state. Sometimes the lesions may be limited to the brainstem, spinal cord and other parts, causing corresponding symptoms, which are called brainstem inflammation or myelitis respectively.

The manifestations of encephalitis vary depending on the type of virus. Epidemic encephalitis B has an acute onset, progresses rapidly, and has high disability and mortality rates. The condition caused by herpes simplex virus is also very serious, with not only inflammation and edema in the brain, but also hemorrhage and necrosis.