Encephalitis

Encephalitis is a condition that may lead to brain damage as well as death. As such, it is a very serious form of inflammation and only affects the brain. Viral encephalitis is often traced back to an exposure to rabies and other viral strains while the bacterial form of encephalitis may present in conjunction with syphilis. Encephalitis symptoms are sometimes hard to diagnose for the layperson, especially since they are associated with a host of other conditions. Someone suffering from encephalitis may have flu-like symptoms and also present with symptoms akin to meningitis.

For a patient having already infected with the virus that causes herpes, encephalitis symptoms will be accompanied by bleeding which is not seen with other strains of the infection. Conditions such as these may be known as HSV encephalitis or hepatic encephalitis. Encephalitis lethargica is another appearance of the disease which is extremely rare today. In the past when outbreaks affected the populations of entire city blocks, doctors noted that patients were left without the ability to move or speak for prolonged periods of time. This kind of encephalitis is supposed to be originating from a delayed reaction to a primary infection that occurred earlier on in the patient’s life.

Other strains of this disease are known as:

• St. Louis encephalitis which is prevalent in the United States. Much like West Nile encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis is transmitted by mosquitoes that in turn have garnered the virus from infected birds. While it affected neither mosquito nor bird, humans will experience fevers, headaches, fever, and paralysis and in some cases even coma.



• Closely related is Japanese encephalitis which affects parts of Asia. Carriers are pigs and birds, and once again the mosquito is to blame for the transmission.



• Equine encephalitis (including Eastern equine encephalitis, Western horse encephalitis, and also Venezuela horse encephalitis) is a strain of the disease that accepts a number of hosts before being transmitted – usually by mosquito – to humans.



• LaCrosse encephalitis presents primarily in children and once again mosquitoes are to blame for the transmission of the disease. Named after the Wisconsin area where the infection was first noted, chipmunks, squirrels and other creatures residing in hardwood forests are the carriers.