Encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis

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Tick-borne encephalitis is a natural focal viral infection, the symptoms of which is fever, intoxication, lesions of the gray matter of the brain or its membranes. In addition to persistent neurological and psychiatric complications, encephalitis can lead to death.

Tick-borne encephalitis is a seasonal disease that is caused by the biology of arthropods in large quantities, they appear in the spring and summer. In the human body the virus may get through the bite of a tick or the use of not boiled milk goats and cows infected with encephalitis.

The symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis has five clinical forms: a febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, poliomyelitis and polyradiculoneuritis.

Regardless of the form of encephalitis, common symptoms are fever, General intoxication, epileptic syndrome, fatigue, bursting headaches and muscle pain in my calves and the lumbar region. There are disorders of digestion, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and throat.

Brain damage is expressed in the visual and auditory hallucinations, delusions, agitated or depressed, depression. Sometimes encephalitis leading to paralysis and coma.

The feverish form encephalitis is the most favorable and occurs without serious harm to the nervous system; recovery occurs quickly. This form is found in approximately one third of all cases of tick-borne encephalitis. Onset is often acute, occurs a sharp rise in temperature to 38-39 °C, the person feels weakness, headache, nausea. As a rule, with feverish form of tick-borne encephalitis symptoms the brain and spinal cord not expressed.

Meningeal form of tick-borne encephalitis the most common. The first symptoms are virtually identical to the symptoms of the febrile form, but the General intoxication of the organism was much more pronounced. There is no excessive tonus (rigidity) of occipital muscles, pronounced signs of irritation of the meninges. Fever lasts one to two weeks; the disease outcome is favorable.

Meningoencephalitic form of the disease occurs much heavier the symptoms appear hallucinations, delusions, psychomotor agitation. Patient loses orientation in time and space, there can be epileptic seizures.

Meningoencephalitic encephalitishas 2 forms: diffuse and focal.

Diffuse tick-borne meningoencephalitis is characterized by impaired consciousness, seizures, lesions of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and so on. Focal meningoencephalitis provoked paresis, hemiparesis, epileptic seizures. Sometimes when the disease violated autonomic centers, which in humans can occur stomach bleeding and bloody vomiting.

Poliomyelitisa form of tick-borne encephalitis begins with fever, General weakness and strong fatigue of the person. Can appear numbness of limbs, muscle twitching and muscle weakness, which further leads to motor disorders. The affected muscles atrophy after 2-3 weeks of illness.

Polyradiculoneuritis form is manifested by pain in the stretching of the muscles (symptoms a's symptom and Wasserman), paresthesia, impaired sensitivity of the limb and ascending flaccid paralysis of muscles.

Tick-borne encephalitis leads to lesions of the nervous system, among which the most pronounced epileptic and hyperkinetic syndromes. Hyperkinetic syndrome commonly seen in adolescents. It is myoclonia (involuntary muscle contractions).

Sometimes the tick-borne encephalitis virus persists in the CNS even after recovery. Thus, it becomes chronic and the disease could resume.

Treatment of tick-borne encephalitis

Treatment of tick-borne encephalitis in the early days of the disease involves the administration to the patient tick of gamma globulin, serum recover from this disease or ribavirin (antiviral drug). The patient shows intense detoxification therapy, maintaining water and electrolyte balance, the introduction of various symptomatic medications.

For the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is vaccination of the population, measures are taken for the destruction of rodents in the endemic foci, it is recommended to wear special clothing to prevent tick bites.