What are the symptoms of severe encephalitis?

The brain is the command center of the human body and also the radiating center of human emotions and thoughts. It can be said that the brain controls the actions of the entire body. Therefore, the brain is an indispensable part of human beings. But the brain is also an organ tissue, which means it is as fragile as other organs and is prone to disease. For example, middle-aged and elderly people may suffer from cerebral infarction, young people may suffer from encephalitis and other diseases. Among them, encephalitis is the disease with the greatest impact. Patients often experience confusion and coma in the most serious stage. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of severe encephalitis.

Encephalitis refers to an inflammatory lesion caused by the invasion of brain parenchyma by pathogens. Depending on the scope of the cause, it can be divided into broad and narrow sense. In a narrow sense, it refers to the inflammatory changes caused by direct invasion of the brain parenchyma by pathogenic microorganisms. Usually a narrow concept is used. The vast majority of causes are viruses, but they can also be caused by infections such as bacteria, fungi, spirochetes, rickettsia, parasites, etc. Some may be allergic diseases, such as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

1. Acute purulent meningitis

The onset is acute, with severe pain in the whole head in the early stage, which is persistent and gradually worsens. Sometimes, there is an explosive headache on the basis of the persistent headache. This headache often radiates to the shoulders, neck, and back. The headache can be aggravated by any activity or coughing.

2. Tuberculous meningitis

The onset is usually slow and is more common in children and young people. Before the onset, there are often symptoms of tuberculosis poisoning that last for 2 to 3 weeks, which may manifest as low fever, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, and poor sleep. The onset of the disease is mainly characterized by a general headache, and the severity of the headache varies greatly. Some headaches are severe, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, while others are dull pain or distending pain that lasts for a long time. Children often have convulsions, accompanied by mental depression, apathy, delirium, and in severe cases, coma and incontinence. The early signs are not obvious, but in the late stage, typical signs of meningeal irritation and neurological localization appear, such as abducens nerve and oculomotor nerve paralysis, monoplegia or hemiplegia.

3. Viral meningitis

The clinical manifestations are acute or subacute onset. The clinical symptoms of viral meningitis of various causes are very similar, with severe headache, persistent throbbing pain in the entire head, accompanied by fever, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, and neck and back pain. The older the age, the more severe the symptoms. Physical examination rarely reveals positive findings, with meningeal irritation being the only neurological sign.