Encephalitis
See Also:
Encephalitis:
Introduction
Encephalitis: Types
Encephalitis:
Causes & Risk Factors
Encephalitis:
Signs & Symptoms
Encephalitis:
Medical Tests & Diagnosis Methods
Encephalitis:
Treatment & Prevention Options
Causes & Risk Factors
Viral infection spread due to insect bites (mosquito or
tick bite), or human-to-human contact or animal bite
causes encephalitis. The viruses that spread encephalitis
are as follows:
- Herpes Simplex Virus (the cold sore virus)
- Rubeola (measles)
- Varicella (chicken pox)
- Influenza
- Rubella (german measles)
- Polioviruses
- Enteroviruses (tummy bugs)
- Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (glandular fever)
- Mumps (4)
- Cytomegalovirus
- HIV
- Herpes zoster (shingles)
- Herpes B
- Rabies
- Mosquito-borne viruses (arboviruses) (5).
Insects bite mammals, domestic animals and birds,
leading to spreading of the infection and causing
encephalitis. Some examples are as follows:
- West Nile encephalitis (or West Nile fever)
- Japanese Encephalitis
- Tick Borne Encephalitis
- Murray Valley Encephalitis
- California encephalitis
- St Louis encephalitis
- Western equine encephalitis
- Eastern equine encephalitis
- Colorado tick fever (4).
Bacterial causes include Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(TB) and Bartonella henselae (cat scratch). Rarely,
encephalitis is also be triggered by a brain injury,
brain tumor, drug reactions, lead poisoning or vaccine
reaction (6).
Some of the risk factors of encephalitis are as
follows:
- Age: Certain types of
encephalitis are prevalent or severe in young
children or older adults.
- Weakened Immune System: People
suffering from AIDS/HIV and undergoing cancer
therapies or organ transplantation are
susceptible to encephalitis.
- Geographic Regions: People
visiting or living in areas prevalent with
mosquito-borne viruses are at increased risk
being infected with encephalitis.
- Outdoor Activities: People with
hobbies of gardening, jogging, playing golf or
bird watching need to exercise extra care during
an encephalitis outbreak.
- Season: Mosquito-borne diseases
are more prevalent during summer months in the US
since it is the prime mating time for birds and
mosquitoes, thus the risk of getting infected is
more during this season (7).
See Also:
Encephalitis:
Introduction
Encephalitis: Types
Encephalitis:
Causes & Risk Factors
Encephalitis:
Signs & Symptoms
Encephalitis:
Medical Tests & Diagnosis Methods
Encephalitis:
Treatment & Prevention Options
Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com
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