noun
definition
Inflammation of the brain.
Examples of encephalitis in a Sentence
Eastern equine encephalitis occurs in eastern and southeastern United States; western equine and California encephalitis occur throughout the West; and St. Louis encephalitis occurs throughout the country.
Equine encephalitis is carried by mosquitoes that do not normally bite humans but do bite horses and birds.
At the age of three, Luke suddenly became seriously ill with viral encephalitis of unknown origin.
Physicians may administer tests to rule out conditions other than fever that could have caused the seizure, such as epilepsy, meningitis, or encephalitis.
Children who have a neurological disorder or illness such as encephalitis or meningitis may suddenly show signs of cognitive impairment and adaptive difficulties.
The child shows symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis.
The most common complications are ear infection and diarrhea, although more serious complications can include pneumonia, meningitis, or encephalitis.
Called encephalitis, this condition can occur up to several weeks after the basic measles symptoms have resolved.
Long-term problems following recovery from measles encephalitis may include seizures and mental retardation.
Serious infections that affect the brain directly, such as meningitis and encephalitis, may cause irreversible damage to the brain, leading to CP.
The mumps infection can spread into the brain causing inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).
Symptoms of mumps encephalitis include the inability to feel pain, seizures, and high fever.
Encephalitis can occur during the parotitis stage or one to two weeks later.
Recovery from mumps encephalitis is usually complete, although complications, such as seizure disorders, have been noted.
Only about one person in 100 with mumps encephalitis dies from the complication.
A second study in Finland showed that the vaccine is also not associated with aseptic meningitis or encephalitis.
Such treatments are vaccine or immune globulin for hepatitis A, typhoid, meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, and rabies.
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain, usually caused by a direct viral infection or a hypersensitivity reaction to a virus or foreign protein.
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain in reaction of the body's immune system to infection or invasion.
The viruses causing primary encephalitis can be epidemic or sporadic.
Arthropod-borne viral encephalitis is responsible for most epidemic viral encephalitis.
The most common form of non-epidemic or sporadic encephalitis is caused by the herpes simplex virus, type 1 (HSV-1) and has a high rate of death.
Approximately 2,000 cases of encephalitis are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, each year.
Encephalitis can strike anyone, at any age, although some kinds of encephalitis are more common in children.
Other kinds of encephalitis can affect anyone, but may affect children more severely.
There are more than a dozen viruses that can cause encephalitis, spread by either human-to human contact or by animal bites.
Encephalitis may occur with several common viral infections of childhood.
Secondary encephalitis may occur with measles, chickenpox, mumps, rubella, and EBV.
In rare cases, encephalitis may follow vaccination against some of the viral diseases listed above.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a very rare brain disorder caused by an infectious particle called a prion, may also cause encephalitis.
Mosquitoes spread viruses responsible for equine encephalitis (eastern and western types), St. Louis encephalitis, California encephalitis, and Japanese encephalitis.
Lyme disease, spread by ticks, can cause encephalitis, as can Colorado tick fever.
Rabies is most often spread by animal bites from dogs, cats, mice, raccoons, squirrels, and bats and may cause encephalitis.
Japanese encephalitis and St. Louis encephalitis are also carried by mosquitoes.
Japanese encephalitis does not occur in the United States but is found throughout much of Asia.
The viruses responsible for these diseases are classified as arbovirus, and these diseases are collectively called arbovirus encephalitis.
Herpes simplex encephalitis, the most common form of sporadic encephalitis in western countries, is a disease with significantly high mortality.
Herpes simplex encephalitis is responsible for 10 percent of all encephalitis cases and is the main cause of sporadic, fatal encephalitis.
The symptoms of herpes simplex encephalitis are fever, rapidly disintegrating mental state, headache, and behavioral changes.
Diagnosis of encephalitis includes careful questioning to determine possible exposure to viral sources.
Choice of treatment for encephalitis depends on the cause.
Viral encephalitis is usually treated with antiviral drugs, including acyclovir, ganciclovir, foscarnet, ribavirin, and AZT.
Viruses that respond to acyclovir include herpes simplex, the most common cause of sporadic (non-epidemic) encephalitis in the United States.
The symptoms of encephalitis may be treated with a number of different drugs.
A person with encephalitis must be monitored carefully, since symptoms may change rapidly.
Most cases of encephalitis are mild, and recovery is usually quick.
Mild encephalitis usually leaves no residual neurological problems.
Some forms of encephalitis have more severe courses, including herpes encephalitis, in which mortality is 15 to 20 percent with treatment, and 70 to 80 percent without.
Antiviral treatment is ineffective for eastern equine encephalitis, and mortality is approximately 30 percent.
Because encephalitis is caused by infection, it may be prevented by avoiding the infection.