Signs to differentiate encephalitis from meningitis

Severe encephalitis and meningitis often cause coma and convulsions. If not treated promptly, it can easily lead to death and sequelae.

Infectious meningoencephalopathy is an inflammation of the brain tissue, meninges, or both.caused by a virus or bacteria. This is a very serious disease that can cause death or sequelae if not detected and treated promptly. The disease accounts for about 1-5 out of 100,000 people.KNot everyone exposed to the pathogen gets the disease.

Doctor Truong Huu Khanh, Head of the Department of Infection and Neurology, Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC) said.In brain and meningeal diseases, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between two large groups: encephalitis and meningitis.

Encephalitis is a pathogen that directly attacks the brain parenchyma and is commonly caused by enterovirus or Japanese encephalitis virus. Meanwhile, meningitis is caused by a pathogen that attacks the membrane surrounding the brain and only affects the brain when severe.

Depending on the cause of the disease, infectious meningitis has its own name such as:

- Japanese encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus. This disease is transmitted by mosquito bites and is common in rural areas.The virus is transmitted from pigs and birds to humans through mosquitoes.

-Encephalitis caused by enterovirus, from the digestive tract attacks the brain causing encephalitis and the most dangerous is enterovirus 71.

- Meningitis or sepsis caused by meningococcus, the agent is meningococcus bacteria, rapid death if the acute form occurs.

- HIB meningitis is caused by the HIB bacteria, which is a very common bacteria in young children, especially children under 3 years old.

- There are also some other less common factors.

A child patient is treated for encephalitis at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC). Photo: Le Phuong.

According to Dr. Khanh, the symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis in the severe stage are often similar to neurological symptoms such as lethargy, agitation, tremors, convulsions and coma. Before severe symptoms, there are manifestations such as fever, vomiting, loss of appetite, headache, cough or diarrhea. In children under 12 months of age, meningitis has a bulging fontanel.

In addition to neurological symptoms, depending on the cause, there are other accompanying symptoms such as encephalitis caused by enterovirus 71, which often causes blisters on the palms, feet, buttocks, knees, and mouth ulcers.Meningococcal disease can cause necrotic hemorrhagic spots or patches on the skin, and when these hemorrhagic patches spread rapidly, it is a sign of very serious illness.

To detect early meningitis, it is best to closely monitor the child for fever, vomiting, and headache. If blisters are seen on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet or necrotic hemorrhagic spots or patches, a specialist should be consulted. If the child has neurological signs such as lethargy, agitation, restlessness, tremors, convulsions, and coma, take him or her to the hospital immediately. It is important to remember that these symptoms will become increasingly severe.

Dr. Khanh recommends that to prevent brain and meningeal diseases, many measures are needed depending on each type of disease. For Japanese encephalitis, it is advisable to kill mosquitoes and sleep under mosquito nets. For encephalitis caused by intestinal viruses, ensure hygiene when eating and drinking, especially washing hands before eating.

Vaccination is also very important. However, a vaccine can only prevent one brain or meningitis disease. Currently in Vietnam, there are vaccines to prevent Japanese encephalitis and meningitis caused by Hib. For meningitis caused by meningococcus, there are only vaccines to prevent types A and C, and the effectiveness is not high. To prevent the disease, the most important thing is to clean the environment and detect the first case of the disease to prevent it for people around by giving medicine.

According to VNE