Encephalitis: Viral - Prognosis

Symptoms

Symptoms of encephalitis usually appear within 2 days to 2 weeks of exposure to the virus. In milder cases, symptoms may resemble the flu. In severe cases of full-blown encephalitis, symptoms may include:

• Behavioral and personality changes
• Sensitivity to light
• Fever
• Headache
• Vomiting
• Lethargy and reduced consciousness
• Memory loss
• Stiff neck and back -- accompanied by fever and headache would indicate meningitis
• Confusion
• Speech, hearing, and vision problems
• Muscle weakness
• Seizures
• Partial paralysis
• Loss of consciousness
• Coma

Patients experiencing these types of symptoms (especially if they may have recently been bitten by a mosquito or tick or if they have lesions on the lips or genitals) should immediately seek medical treatment.

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Symptoms in Infants. Infants with herpes virus encephalitis may develop lesions in the mouth, in the eye, or on the skin 1 - 45 days after birth. Other symptoms include lethargy, seizures, and changes in temperature. The fontanels, the soft spots on their head where the skull has not yet closed, may bulge outward.

Review Date: 01/26/2011
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).