Be Aware Of These Deadly Diseases On World Mosquito Day
If you have any symptoms of mosquito-borne diseases or illnesses, consult your healthcare provider immediately.
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Encephalitis is a disease that results in inflammation of the brain. The patient’s central nervous system is affected. While the lesser symptoms include headaches and fevers, the more severe ones cause the onset of mental issues like seizures, confusion, disorientation, tremors and hallucinations.
Encephalitis is a disease that results in inflammation of the brain. The patient’s central nervous system is affected. While the lesser symptoms include headaches and fevers, the more severe ones cause the onset of mental issues like seizures, confusion, disorientation, tremors and hallucinations. It can be caused due to bacterial or viral infections of the brain, injection of toxic substances or increased complications of an infectious disease. Infectious encephalitis is a condition that is caused due to infectious agents such as a virus, parasite, bacteria and fungi. These infectious agents cause inflammation of the brain membrane and parenchyma. These infectious agents can also call certain chronic neurological illnesses by influencing the central nervous system. Neurological deficits such as seizures, hearing or speech deficits, Loss of consciousness or altered mental status are noted in some patients. The healthcare cost remains a more significant public health issue as encephalitis is associated with mortality and morbidity.
Depending on the virus causing the disease and the mode of its transmission, encephalitis has been identified as different types:
The virus reaches the brain tissue and causes inflammation. It causes swelling of the brain tissue and can even destroy the neurons. Sometimes, brain haemorrhage or bleeding is also seen.
The following symptoms may occur:
Causes
Encephalitis, in most cases, is caused by a viral infection, and there are several viruses that can cause inflammation of the brain. Some common viruses known to cause the condition include polio, rabies virus, varicella zoster (chickenpox virus), mumps and rubella. Other groups of viruses include adenovirus, cytomegalovirus, West Nile virus and echovirus.
The virus can be transmitted from one person to another through:
Prevention is the best way to control outbreaks. In India, vaccination is available against tick-borne and Japanese encephalitis and should be considered by individuals who are at a high risk. Most of these viruses are spread by mosquito bites, so control of mosquitoes breeding is very important. In India, the monsoon season is the encephalitis season. We already see outbreaks in North Bengal, and a lot of people are dying. To control death, awareness about mosquito control and prevention of encephalitis is essential. Travellers should be educated regarding the prevention of viral encephalitis. Travellers should practice protective garments and sleep under a mosquito net to prevent themselves from mosquito bites. In the areas where tick-borne infection risk is high outdoor activities should be avoided by an individual. Water should not be stored in a stagnant manner for an extended period; insecticide spraying should be done regularly.
Emergency symptoms form the basis of suspected encephalitis. But to diagnose its root cause, different tests might be needed. ‘Diagnosis involves a combination of clinical examination with the help of brain scans, mainly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We also need an electroencephalogram (EEG) along with the study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained through a lumbar puncture.
Some viral encephalitis like Herpes Simplex encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis do have definitive diagnostic tests. Some of them can be detected by serological testing, where the presence of antibodies against the virus is detected. The recent viral encephalitis caused by the West Nile virus can be diagnosed in some labs in India. For autoimmune encephalitis, there are different blood tests and CSF tests.
MRI and CT scan help in excluding the risk of uncal herniation before performing a lumbar puncture. CT scan detects low-density lesions in temporal lobes, which appear three to five days after the infection. Cerebrospinal fluid will evaluate average glucose, moderate lymphocytosis and moderately elevated protein in the body. EEG is used mainly in detecting abnormalities in patients with a history of seizures. Three types of EEG patterns are observed in encephalitis- Diffuse continuous delta activity, diffuse delta activity with spikes and alpha comma activity.
The goal of the treatment is to provide supportive care and help the body fight infection. Treatment is usually as per the symptoms (symptomatic). Reliably tested, specific drugs against viruses (antiviral agents) are few in number and are used with limited success in the treatment of viral infection, with the exception of herpes simplex encephalitis, which is treated with acyclovir.’ Acyclovir has shown promising activity in reducing morbidity and mortality and reducing the progression of long-term cognitive and behavioural impairment of HSV encephalitis. Acyclovir should be prescribed in the dose of 10 to 15mg/kg Intravenously every eight hours for 10 to 14 days.
In patients who are very sick, supportive treatment such as mechanical ventilation is equally important. Most of these patients require care in an ICU setting. Corticosteroids (e.g., methylprednisolone) are used to reduce brain swelling and inflammation. Intracranial pressure should be monitored in patients with viral encephalitis. Poor prognosis is detected in patients with increased intracranial pressure. Management of seizures is done with phenytoin or valproic acid. Status epilepticus patients should be managed with benzodiazepines, psychotics for behavioural alterations, and sedatives may be needed for irritability or restlessness.
In patients with autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis, the treatment can be corticosteroids, immunoglobulin therapy, plasmapheresis, or rituximab.
An individual experiencing encephalitis related complications should resort to the following lifestyle management strategies:
Prognosis
The majority of patients recover from viral encephalitis without any complications. However, the symptomatic patients have trouble concentrating, memory loss or behavioural and speech disorders. Paediatric patients develop changes in behaviour and seizures following viral encephalitis. Microcephaly may occur as a complication of zika virus infection in pregnant women. Frequently reported complication after viral encephalitis is seizures which are reported in 10 to 20% of patients.
Complications
Viral encephalitis is associated with complications in the patients experiencing viral encephalitis symptoms for an extended period. Complications of viral encephalitis are related to different systems in the body. Early diagnosis of the complications and prompt treatment can prevent the progression of complications can improve the quality of life of the patient. some of the complications of viral encephalitis are as follows-
If you have any symptoms of mosquito-borne diseases or illnesses, consult your healthcare provider immediately.
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If you have any symptoms of mosquito-borne diseases or illnesses, consult your healthcare provider immediately.
Doctors have blamed the litchi fruit for the spread of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome. But is the fruit really the villain here as everybody seems to think? Dr. Pradeep Gadge, leading Diabetologist, Gadge Diabetes Centre, shares his views
Bihar is reeling under an encephalitis outbreak among children and many experts blame the consumption of unripe litchee for this. However, some experts are now saying that malnourishment is the main contributory factor.
Litchi is suspected to be the culprit behind Bihar's encephalitis outbreak.
On World Malaria Day today, we tell you about all the mosquito-borne diseases that can put your life at risk.
People with a good immunity may not catch the virus.
Nearly, a fifth of all ICU resources were consumed by these illnesses.
Japanese Encephalitis is the leading cause of viral encephalitis or brain inflammation in Asia.
'We are doing our part from the central government. We provide financial and technical support to the states. But health is essentially a state subject and the implementation role thus remains with the states,' Nadda told the Lok Sabha.
Following two deaths due to Japanese encephalitis in the neighbouring state of Manipur, Mizoram government has started taking rapid preventing measures to curb a potential outbreak of the disease.
Reports say India had over 10,000 Acute Encephalitis Syndrome cases in 2014
Meghalaya at risk of Japanese Encephalitis
Armed with a good number of immunisation kits, the expert team hopes to get the situation under control.
Encephalitis in North Bengal: 6 people die, toll reaches to 45
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