Encephalitis

Types of Encephalitis

Primary Encephalitis:
Primary encephalitis is caused due to a viral infection of the brain and spinal cord.

Primary encephalitis may be sporadic or epidemic in occurrence. A common sporadic infection is herpes simplex encephalitis caused by the herpes simplex virus leading to serious neurological damage and may prove to be fatal in newborns.

Arboviral encephalitis is caused by transmission of arboviruses through arthropod bites (mosquitoes and ticks) (3).

Secondary Encephalitis:
Complication of viral infections or reactivation of latent viruses due to suppression of the immune system caused by malnutrition, stress and diseases may lead to secondary encephalitis. Infections such as influenza, chickenpox (varicella-zoster), measles (rubeola), mumps and German measles (rubella) may also cause secondary encephalitis.

“Secondary encephalitis that develops as a result of a variola virus infection following smallpox vaccination or reactivation of another viral infection (called acute disseminated encephalitis) is often fatal.” (3)

Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com

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