Frequency distribution
The rate of new cases of encephalitis and meningitis (inflammation of the brain and its membranes) is 15 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Meningococcal infections predominate in Europe from the age of six. The disease rate is significantly higher in immunocompromised patients, such as AIDS patients.
What can be the first signs of an inflammation of the brain?
In the presence of encephalitis, the prognosis depends largely on the time of diagnosis and subsequent therapy. For this reason, it is extremely important to act quickly when the first signs are present and to have the presence of encephalitis clarified. The first signs of encephalitis are initially a general feeling of exhaustion and severe headaches accompanied by the development of fever.
This phase is called the prodromal phase. In addition to this triad, other symptoms such as nausea, sensitivity to light or a stiff neck with additional infestation of the meninges (menigism) can be added. As the disease progresses, the patient’s consciousness may become cloudy, epileptic seizures or motor deficits may occur.
Symptoms
Every inflammation in the brain, both meningitis and encephalitis, has its own unique symptoms. However, when both areas of the brain are involved, the clinical pictures can become mixed and a complicated overall picture can emerge, which is sometimes difficult to diagnose. Symptoms of meningitis: Initial symptoms of meningitis develop relatively quickly after infection and spread of the pathogen, including vomiting and very severe headaches.
The inflammation of the meninges causes an increase in cerebrospinal fluid production and a subsequent increase in intracranial pressure. This increase causes the initial symptoms to worsen. In addition, the patient may develop disturbances of consciousness – he or she loses attention and appears increasingly dull and uninvolved.
If the pressure in the skull rises too high, coma or death can occur as an acute consequence. Further symptoms are neck stiffness, more or less high fever, extensive skin rashes as well as unconsciousness, seizures or psychotic symptoms due to the involvement of the brain.Occasionally herpes labialis and conjunctivitis with sensitivity to light can be observed as accompanying symptoms. In children, rising fever may be the only symptom of meningitis.
In infants, special attention must be paid to the fontanelles, which bulge outwards when there is high intracranial pressure. Symptoms of encephalitis: The symptomatology of an inflammation inside the brain (encephalitis) is initially similar to a cold and is usually milder than meningitis as it progresses. At first the patient notices a rise in temperature and chills.
There are increasing headaches, disturbances of consciousness, neurological and psychotic symptoms. How the neurological-psychotic symptoms manifest themselves depends on which areas of the brain are affected by the inflammation. For example, if the frontal lobe, the front of the brain, is affected, personality changes may occur.
Brain swelling (cerebral oedema) or cerebral haemorrhages (cerebral haemorrhage) can be dangerous consequences of encephalitis and cause permanent brain damage. If infected with viruses, a similar clinical picture to that of a bacterial infection can be observed. The course of herpes simplex encephalitis, in which several centres of inflammation form in the brain, can be regarded as a special case. As a result, speech and consciousness disorders, olfactory disorders and epileptic seizures develop.
