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Forum Name: Viral Infections

Question: Encephalitis Questions

spankmnkyman - Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:21 pm

My cousin is 23 years old. She has been in the hospital for about a month-in-a-half now. Prior to going to the hospital (for the emergency) she had been having head-aches and the doctors told her to take a bunch of asprin. She then started to basically go crazy. She went to the hospital. She just lays in bed and doesn't truly respond to anything. She has been diagnosed with encephalitis. The doctors have not been able to do anything to help her. I was wondering what types of treatments are available or if there are any specialists that we would be able to see. Please, we need help.

Dr. Chan Lowe - Sat Feb 03, 2007 11:04 pm

Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. There are many causes of encephalitis. The most common causes are infection related. Most likely viruses top the infectious list. There are several including enterovirus, the well known but not as common West Nile Virus, several varieties of encephalitis viruses, herpes virus and many more. There are bacterial infections that can do this as well. Two other somewhat common causes include mycoplasma and bartonella (the bug that causes cat scratch disease). Beyond infections there are other causes such as acute demylenating encephalomyelitis and several other neurological causes. Did she have cold type symptoms before all this started. In addition to actual infections, some infections can lead to a post-infectious syndrome that can be deceptive in that the actual infection may have been several weeks before hand. If they are not already involved, I would suggest considering asking for an infectious disease and neurological consultation. These specialists can guide which tests to do next. An MRI of the brain may be helpful as well as a lumbar puncture to obtain spinal fluid for testing to look for many infections. Several of the infections can be detected via blood antibody tests. Keep us updated. Hope this helps.

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