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meningoencephalitis

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Also known as Meningoencephalitis (disorder)

Meningoencephalitis is a medical condition involving simultaneous inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and of the meninges, the protective membranes of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). The symptoms resemble those of both conditions, including fever, intense headache, neck stiffness, nausea, and vomiting. Meningoencephalitis is often fatal when untreated, and survivors can be left with long-term neurological conditions.

Key facts

Medical condition (new).image
Meninges-en.svg
Medical condition (new).caption
Meninges of the central nervous system
Medical condition (new).field
Infectious disease, neurology
Medical condition (new).symptoms
Fever, headache, neck stiffness, photophobia
Medical condition (new).diagnosis
Based on symptoms; supported by lumbar puncture, blood tests, medical imaging, and/or electroencephalogram

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

13,840 papers

via PubMed

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

13 sections
Contents
  • Signs and symptoms
  • Causes <!-- Consider adding symptoms for all causative organisms. -->
  • Bacterial
  • Viral
  • Autoimmune <!-- Consider adding a few sentences or a paragraph about the autoimmune response to meningoencephalitis. -->
  • Protozoal
  • Animal
  • Other/multiple
  • Diagnosis <!-- Is there a blood test for meningoencephalitis? -->
  • Treatment
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Meningoencephalitis is a medical condition involving simultaneous inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and of the meninges, the protective membranes of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). The symptoms resemble those of both conditions, including fever, intense headache, neck stiffness, nausea, and vomiting. Meningoencephalitis is often fatal when untreated, and survivors can be left with long-term neurological conditions.

Meningoencephalitis may begin as inflammation of either the brain or meninges that then progresses to involve both regions. Infectious causes include viruses, bacteria, fungi, or protozoan parasites. The inflammation can also be non-infectious in origin, such as autoimmune diseases.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “meningoencephalitis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.