BACKGROUND West Nile virus (WNV) has emerged as one of the most common causes of epidemic meningoencephalitis worldwide. Most human infections are asymptomatic. However, neuroinvasive disease characterized by meningitis, encephalitis and/or acute flaccid paralysis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although outbreaks have been reported in Asia, human WNV infection has not b...

Mx proteins are a group of interferon-induced GTPases whose expression has been demonstrated in a number of human viral infections and in some idiopathic inflammatory diseases. In this study, the expression of Mx protein was evaluated in known viral, nonviral, and idiopathic encephalitides in the dog via immunohistochemistry using an antibody against human MxA. All 12 cases of confirmed viral e...

G (GS) have both antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive property, which explains why pediatricians tend to prescribe them for all pediatric clinical conditions in which it is thought or known that inflammation and/or autoimmunity are the main cause of disease signs and symptoms. However, such prescriptions are sometimes questionable because the efficacy of GS has not been demonstrated by contro...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was recovered from cerebrospinal cells (but not from cell-free fluid) of a patient with meningoencephalitis complicating infectious mononucleosis. This finding suggests that virus-altered B lymphocytes can invade the central nervous system and may play a direct role in the pathogenesis of neurologic sequelae of EBV infections. Several mechanisms by which these cells can...

Neurological dysfunction in children associated with bilateral hypodense lesions of the basal ganglia is seen in disorders like Huntington's chorea, Wilson's disease, Hallervorden Spatz syndrome, Leigh's disease, infantile striatal necrosis, hypoxia, ischemia and various intoxications(l). Goutieres and Aicardi described in 1982 a new neuroradiological syndrome characterized by a rapid clinical ...

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus causes severe encephalitis with serious sequelae in humans. The disease is characterized by fever and debilitating encephalitis that can progress to chronic illness or fatal infection. In this study, changes in permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in two susceptible animal models (BALB/c, and C57Bl/6 mice) infected with TBE virus were investigated at...

Neuropathological findings from 39 acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) autopsies of primarily neurologically symptomatic patients and 7 brain biopsies from AIDS patients performed at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia are reported. Autopsy findings included human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV)-type multinucleated giant cell (MNGC)-associated encephalitis seen in 17 patients...

Encephalitis is an acute infl ammation of the meninges and cerebral tissue. Although the specifi c etiological agent is not identifi ed in many instances, clinical and research experience indicate that viruses are the responsible pathogens for most infections. Enteroviruses cause more than 80% of all cases (1, 2). The other frequent viral causes are arboviruses and Herpes viruses. Herpes simple...

Tick-borne encephalitis virus is the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis, a potentially fatal neurological infection. Tick-borne encephalitis virus belongs to the family of flaviviruses and is transmitted by infected ticks. Despite the availability of vaccines, approximately 2000-3000 cases of tick-borne encephalitis occur annually in Europe for which no curative therapy is available. Th...

Mild encephalitis / encephalopathy with reversible splenial syndrome (MERS) is a rare clinico-radiological entity characterized by mild to moderate neurological symptoms following prodrome. Numerous infectious causes have been documented, most common being viruses and few bacteria (E. coli, Salmonella, Streptococcus & Legionella). MRI typically shows an isolated lesion in the splenium of co...