Encephalitis
Greetings my dear friends of Steemit and Healthy Steem
Encephalitis is a condition involving inflammation of the brain parenchyma. So it is inflammation of the brain tissue. Now encephalitis may be due to a variety of causes. The incidence of encephalitis particularly viral encephalitis which is going to be the most common type of encephalitis is estimated to affect 3.5 to 7.5 people per 100 000 and it has the highest incidence in young and elderly populations this is likely due to lower immune system functioning in those age groups this also ties in with the increased risk of encephalitis in those with immunocompromise so patients who are hiv positive or aids patients and those who are recent organ transplant patients are at an increased risk of this condition. Another important risk factor to make note of is that going to an area that has viruses particularly viruses that cause encephalitis is a risk factor for getting encephalitis so exposure to infective vectors which are oftentimes mosquitoes in particular areas around the world that carry certain viruses that can cause encephalitis. Mosquitoes and even some other wild animals particularly bats.
Encephalitis: Causes
the causes of encephalitis viruses are actually going to be the most common cause of encephalitis. So if it is a viral cause of encephalitis it is called viral encephalitis and it is estimated to account for approximately 70 percent of cases of encephalitis one major virus that can lead to encephalitis is herpes simplex virus and when this virus does cause encephalitis we call it herpes simplex encephalitis.
There are many other mosquitoes-borne viruses that can cause encephalitis. Some of these viruses include dengue virus. The equine viruses like west and east equine virus st louis virus zika virus and japanese encephalitis virus and then there are other less common viral causes of encephalitis. These include enterovirus 71 or ev71 poliovirus epstein-barr virus or ebv cytomegalovirus or cmv measles virus mumps virus rubella virus rabies virus and herpes zoster virus.
There are other causes as well these include toxoplasmosis which is a protozoal infection cerebral aspergillosis which is a fungal infection this can cause encephalitis.
In some patients t-cell lymphoma which is a particular type of cancer, can lead to encephalitis as well.
Certain metabolic encephalopathies can also lead to encephalitis and then there is anti-nmda receptor encephalitis which has been infamously termed brain on fire and this is actually a condition that may be a peri neoplastic syndrome.
Encephalitis: Treatment
Treatment actually depends on the underlying etiology. Most underlying etiologies actually have no specific treatments. There are a few exceptions to
this hsv encephalitis can be treated with acyclovir so iv acyclovir can be very very important with patients who have hsv encephalitis.
Varicella zoster virus encephalitis may also be treated with acyclovir. cmv encephalitis can be treated with ganciclovir and phoscarnate in immunocompromised patients steroids may be given.
Often going to utilize a cyclovir as a treatment empirically they may not know that the patient has hsv encephalitis or some of these other causes we talked about before but they're going to do this anyway because acyclovir can be very important in the recovery.
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