Very often HSV is a reason of acute viral encephalitis, which may cause lethal outcome. It affects brain that provokes cerebral necrosis and shows symptoms of common and local affections of central nervous system. In 95% of cases pathogen of this disease is HSV type 1. People at the age of 5-30 and above 50 are at the highest risk.
Symptoms of herpes encephalitis
This malady begins very acutely, sometimes with a rise in temperature. Meningeal symptoms, pictures of intoxication and intracranial hypertension appear quickly (agonizing headache, frequent emesis, edema of optic nerve). Pictures may include hyperkinesia, spasms, speech disturbance, aphasia and other forms of cortical pathology. Patient may experience disorientation, mental confusion, different disorders, local or generalized convulsions. First stage of disease can be extremely acute and have more serious pictures in babies. After several days, sometimes several hours, culmination of this illness comes and causes various disorders of vital functions. Herpes facts
This phase is characterized by the following symptoms: acceleration of spasms, lose of vision, respiratory impairment, rhythm disturbance, loss of consciousness, spoor, coma.
The stage of involution begins from the 3-4 of disease and lasts for 3-6 months. At first, an individual feels symptoms that all his vital functions begin to recover. Breathing, swallowing movement, orientation, speech, emotional responses rehabilitate gradually. Herpes in babies
But encephalitis can't leave your body without any complications, which depend on the severity of pictures that you have experienced. There could also appear intellectual disorders. All in all, this herpes malady is quite serious and harmful. Earlier lethality reaches 60-70%, sometimes even 80%; when doctors began to use acyclovir in order to treat patients, lethality reduces almost in 2 times. Outcomes of herpes encephalitis depend on the etiotropic therapy, which must be taken with the first symptoms of this illness. Without such action person may die in a several days after the beginning of encephalitis. Herpes incubation period
If you have any suspicions about the symptoms of herpes encephalitis, it is important to start treatment immediately. Diagnostic biopsy of brain is much more dangerous than the use of antiviral medicines in ambiguous cases. Herpes infections
Around the half of ill persons, who were hospitalized in the state of spoor or coma, died. The rest, who could overcome this disease, got pictures as amnesia or epileptic seizures. In the cases when patient has his consciousness or simply has sleepiness, and the treatment is started during the first four days, the possibility to survive reaches almost 90%.
Therapy means taking of acyclovir. Early beginning of treatment (before the development of spoor or coma) reduces the amount of deaths and the possibility of neurologic handicap after herpes encephalitis greatly.
A lot of bacteritic, fungal, parasitogenic and noninfectious illnesses may have the same pictures as HSV. In such cases patient needs additional diagnostics.