Title: Acute Viral Encephalitis - A Case Report
Authors: Dr Shobhit Shakya, Dr Sujit Shahi, Dr Divyanshu Chandra, Dr P S Singh
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v7i9.04
Abstract
Background
Worldwide, acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) has been a major health problem because of associated high morbidity and mortality. AES is defined as a person of any age at any time of year with the acute onset of fever and a change in mental statuses such as confusion, disorientation, coma, or inability to talk and/or new onset of seizures (except febrile seizure).[1] The incidence of AES varies in different studies, but the average incidence is between 3.5 and 7.4/100,000 patient-years, the incidence being higher in children.[2] The etiology of AES can be broadly grouped under infective (bacteria and viruses) or non-infective category, which can vary widely depending on the geographical location and host factors. In most of the cases, the etiologic agent is not identified, and in diagnosed cases, viruses are the major pathogens.[2] In India, the actual contribution of viruses to AES is not entirely known because of problems associated with laboratory diagnosis and many disorders of central nervous system (CNS) mimicking AES. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) vaccine has not been introduced in many regions including the eastern part of India.
