Neuroinfection

What is a neuroinfection?

The term ""neuroinfection"" does not mean any single disease. This is a whole section of quite common neurological pathologies (more than 42% of the total statistics). It includes damage to the nervous system caused by an infectious agent. In other words, neuroinfection is the general name for infectious diseases, the causative agent of which is localized in nervous tissue and causes inflammation:

• brain or its membranes;
• spinal cord;
• peripheral nerves.

The etiological spectrum of neuroinfections is quite wide - viruses, bacteria, fungi, some types of protozoa. Mixed infections, in which symbiosis of pathogenic flora is found, play an important role. For example, herpetic neuroinfection - meningoencephalitis, encephalomyelitis.

Taking into account the duration of the course of the disease, there can be neuroinfections that have a chronic (slowed) nature, or acute and subacute forms of nervous system lesions.

Acute neuroinfection

In neurological practice, neuroinfectious lesions are considered the most serious, they develop acutely and have a severe course with a high percentage of fatalities. The most frequent emergency conditions include:

• meningitis – inflammatory processes take place in the membrane of the brain and/or spinal cord;
• encephalitis - brain tissue damage;
• myelitis – inflammation localized in the spinal cord;
• arachnoiditis is a pathology of the arachnoid membrane of the brain.

Chronic neuroinfection

Chronic neuroinfections are characterized by a long course of the pathological process, in which remissions alternate with periods of exacerbations. Common representatives of this category of diseases:

• brucellosis;
• neurosyphilis;
• neuroAIDS;
• damages of the central nervous system in tuberculosis.

Classification of neuroinfection

All neuroinfections are divided into two large groups:

1. primary (true) – independent diseases, the causative agent of which is a neurotrope, it first affects the cells of nervous tissue;
2. secondary – damage to the nervous system occurs due to dissemination from a primary focus already existing in the body (for example, toxoplasmosis, tuberculosis, influenza, syphilis).

From the point of view of the pathomorphological picture, there are several types of neuroinfections:

• primary and secondary purulent meningitis and meningoencephalitis;
• serous meningitis of various genesis;
• viral neuroinfection - encephalomyelitis and encephalitis;
• demyelinating (slow) neuroinfections.

A special category includes neuroinfections in children. Due to the fact that their immunity is not yet fully formed, children are most prone to infectious diseases of the nervous system. The most characteristic are varicella meningitis and herpesvirus neuroinfection.

Symptoms of neuroinfection

Symptoms of neuroinfection have different degrees of manifestation, depending on the severity of the condition. Despite the variety of types, all acute neuroinfections are clinically associated with cerebral edema against the background of general infectious symptoms. They include five main syndromes:

• intracranial hypertension - an increase in intracranial pressure is accompanied by increasing headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness;
• disorders of consciousness - various degrees of psychomotor excitement, retardation, delirious states, depression, inadequate reactions, coma;
• convulsive;
• pronounced meningeal - inability to tilt the head forward (rigidity of the occipital muscles), Kernig's symptom (if the patient's leg is first bent at a right angle in the area of ​​the hip and knee joints, he will not be able to unbend it at will);
• focal neurological lesions - manifestations depend on the areas of the brain that have undergone pathological changes (for example, nystagmus, clonus of the feet).

When a neuroinfection develops, symptoms of general intoxication of the body are manifested by sharp hyperthermia (an increase in body temperature almost always to critical levels), general weakness, and a significant decrease in work capacity.

Neuroinfection treatment

Treatment of patients diagnosed with neuroinfection of the brain must be carried out in a hospital. The methods of drug therapy used in the treatment of neuroinfections always depend on the causative agent that provoked the disease and the localization of the pathology. Treatment measures are aimed at comprehensively solving the main triad of tasks:

• elimination of the infectious agent and ways of its spread;
• increasing immunity;
• restoration of disturbed functions of the nervous system.

Symptomatic therapy is carried out - if necessary, antipyretic, sedative, anticonvulsant drugs are prescribed. In case of a severe course of neuroinfection, treatment includes the appointment of an appropriate course of rehabilitation. For example, to regain speech, the ability to independently dress, move, write, etc. D.

Consequences of transferred neuroinfection

Extremely rarely, infectious diseases of the nervous system pass without complications for the patient's health. The consequences of the transferred neuroinfection depend on the type of disease and the time of the start of treatment. Patients may be left with a headache or backache that worsens with weather changes. After recovery, memory, vision or hearing may deteriorate. On the background of neuroinfections, concomitant diseases can be activated. For example, paralysis almost always occurs with myelitis. The most serious consequences are considered to be the consequences of a neuroinfection of the brain, suffered in the fetal period. They entail developmental anomalies, various defects of internal organs and systems.