What happens if hand, foot and mouth disease is complicated by meningitis?

I believe many parents have learned the details of hand, foot and mouth disease, which is mainly a mild infectious disease caused by enterovirus. Hand, foot and mouth disease can cause fever in patients, and some types can also cause meningitis. Common ones include viral meningitis, viral encephalitis, etc.

1. Viral meningitis

Acute onset, or preceded by a cold or a prodromal infectious disease. The main symptoms are fever, nausea, vomiting, weakness and drowsiness. Older children may complain of headaches, while infants may become restless and irritable. Severe disturbances of consciousness and convulsions are generally rare. There may be signs of meningeal irritation such as neck stiffness. But there are no localized neurological signs. The course of the disease is usually 1 to 2 weeks.

2. Viral encephalitis

The onset is acute, but its clinical manifestations vary depending on the location, extent, and severity of the main pathological changes in the brain parenchyma. The course of viral encephalitis is usually 2 to 3 weeks.

(1) Most children with diffuse cerebral lesions mainly present with fever, recurrent seizures, varying degrees of impaired consciousness, and increased intracranial pressure. Convulsions are mostly generalized, but they may also be focal, and in severe cases, they may present as a persistent state of convulsion. Children may have varying degrees of changes in consciousness, including drowsiness, lethargy, coma, deep coma, and even decorticate state. If irregular breathing rhythm or unequal pupils occur, the possibility of intracranial hypertension and brain herniation should be considered. Some children also have hemiplegia or limb paralysis.

(2) In some children, the lesions mainly affect the motor area of ​​the frontal cortex, and the main clinical manifestation is recurrent seizures, with or without fever. Most of them are general or focal tonic-clonic or clonic seizures, and a few are myoclonic or tonic seizures. Status epilepticus may occur.