All brain diseases fall into the group of:
Meningitis: Infection of the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal chord.
or
Encephalitis: inflammation of the brain itself.
Causes: most often bacteria or virus
Immune system is usually able to take care of the infection, otherwise the infection may get into the blood and spread through the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding nerves and inflame the brain and/or the surrounding membranes, causing inflammation. This can lead to the harm or killing of nerve cells and cause bleeding of the brain.
Meningitis can also be caused by fungi, reaction to certain medications or medical treatments, certain cancers, inflammatory diseases such as lupus, and traumatic injuries to the head/spine.
Bacterial: rare, but often deadly. It may occur when an upper respiratory tract infection travels through the blood to the brain or when certain bacteria attack the mininges directly. These conditions can block blood vessels causing stroke and permanent brain damage. Sub categories include:
Pneumococcal meningitis is the most common form of meningitis and is the most serious form of bacterial meningitis. caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, which also causes pneumonia, blood poisoning (septicemia), and ear and sinus infections. often suffer neurological damage ranging from deafness to severe brain damage.
Meningococcal meningitis, which is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis,
Haemophilus meningitis was at one time the most common form of bacterial meningitis.
Listeria monocytogenes meningitis, which can cross the placental barrier and cause a baby to be stillborn or die shortly after birth; Escherichia coli meningitis, which is most common in elderly adults and newborns and may be transmitted to a baby through the birth canal, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis meningitis, a rare disease that occurs when the bacterium that causes tuberculosis attacks the meninges.
Viral, or aseptic, meningitis is the most common form of meningitis in the United States. non-lethal disease is usually caused by enteroviruses—common viruses that enter the body through the mouth and travel to the brain and surrounding tissues where they multiply. Enteroviruses are present in mucus, saliva, and feces and can be transmitted through direct contact with an infected person or an infected object or surface. Other viruses that cause meningitis include varicella zoster (the virus that causes chicken pox and can appear decades later as shingles), influenza, mumps, HIV, and herpes simplex type 2 (genital herpes).
common form of fungal meningitis is caused by the fungus cryptococcus neoformans (found mainly in dirt and bird droppings). Cryptococcal meningitis is common in AIDS patients. Although treatable, fungal meningitis often recurs in nearly half of affected persons.
Primary encephalitis (also called acute viral encephalitis) is caused by a direct viral infection of the spinal cord and brain. The infection may be focal (located in only one area) or diffuse (located in many different areas). Secondary encephalitis, also known as post-infective encephalitis, can result from complications of a current viral infection. Secondary encephalitis that results from an immunization or earlier viral infection is known as acute disseminated encephalitis.
enteroviruses, herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, a bite from a rabid animal (rabies virus), or arboviruses, which are transmitted from infected animals to humans through the bite of an infected tick, mosquito, or other blood-sucking insect. Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by tick bite, can cause encephalitis.
Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is responsible for about 10 percent of all encephalitis cases. majority of cases are caused by reactivation of an earlier infection.
The virus is transmitted through contact with an infected.
headache and fever for up to 5 days, followed by personality and behavioral changes, seizures, partial paralysis, hallucinations, and altered levels of consciousness. Brain damage in adults and in children beyond the neonatal period is usually seen in the frontal and temporal lobes and can be severe.
Type 2 virus (genital herpes) is most often transmitted through sexual contact. An infected mother can transmit the disease to her child at birth, through contact with genital secretions, but this is uncommon. In newborns, symptoms such as lethargy, irritability, tremors, seizures, and poor feeding generally develop between 4 and 11 days after delivery.
Powassan encephalitis is tick-borne. Symptoms are noticed 7-10 days following the bite and may include headache, fever, nausea, confusion, partial paralysis, and coma. Permanent neurologic damage occurs in about half of all cases and death in about 10-15 percent of all cases.
Mosquito born include: Equine encephalitis, LaCrosse encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/encephalitis_meningitis/detail_encephalitis_meningitis.htm
Meningitis: Infection of the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal chord.
or
Encephalitis: inflammation of the brain itself.
Causes: most often bacteria or virus
Immune system is usually able to take care of the infection, otherwise the infection may get into the blood and spread through the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding nerves and inflame the brain and/or the surrounding membranes, causing inflammation. This can lead to the harm or killing of nerve cells and cause bleeding of the brain.
Meningitis can also be caused by fungi, reaction to certain medications or medical treatments, certain cancers, inflammatory diseases such as lupus, and traumatic injuries to the head/spine.
Bacterial: rare, but often deadly. It may occur when an upper respiratory tract infection travels through the blood to the brain or when certain bacteria attack the mininges directly. These conditions can block blood vessels causing stroke and permanent brain damage. Sub categories include:
Pneumococcal meningitis is the most common form of meningitis and is the most serious form of bacterial meningitis. caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, which also causes pneumonia, blood poisoning (septicemia), and ear and sinus infections. often suffer neurological damage ranging from deafness to severe brain damage.
Meningococcal meningitis, which is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis,
Haemophilus meningitis was at one time the most common form of bacterial meningitis.
Listeria monocytogenes meningitis, which can cross the placental barrier and cause a baby to be stillborn or die shortly after birth; Escherichia coli meningitis, which is most common in elderly adults and newborns and may be transmitted to a baby through the birth canal, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis meningitis, a rare disease that occurs when the bacterium that causes tuberculosis attacks the meninges.
Viral, or aseptic, meningitis is the most common form of meningitis in the United States. non-lethal disease is usually caused by enteroviruses—common viruses that enter the body through the mouth and travel to the brain and surrounding tissues where they multiply. Enteroviruses are present in mucus, saliva, and feces and can be transmitted through direct contact with an infected person or an infected object or surface. Other viruses that cause meningitis include varicella zoster (the virus that causes chicken pox and can appear decades later as shingles), influenza, mumps, HIV, and herpes simplex type 2 (genital herpes).
common form of fungal meningitis is caused by the fungus cryptococcus neoformans (found mainly in dirt and bird droppings). Cryptococcal meningitis is common in AIDS patients. Although treatable, fungal meningitis often recurs in nearly half of affected persons.
Primary encephalitis (also called acute viral encephalitis) is caused by a direct viral infection of the spinal cord and brain. The infection may be focal (located in only one area) or diffuse (located in many different areas). Secondary encephalitis, also known as post-infective encephalitis, can result from complications of a current viral infection. Secondary encephalitis that results from an immunization or earlier viral infection is known as acute disseminated encephalitis.
enteroviruses, herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, a bite from a rabid animal (rabies virus), or arboviruses, which are transmitted from infected animals to humans through the bite of an infected tick, mosquito, or other blood-sucking insect. Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by tick bite, can cause encephalitis.
Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is responsible for about 10 percent of all encephalitis cases. majority of cases are caused by reactivation of an earlier infection.
The virus is transmitted through contact with an infected.
headache and fever for up to 5 days, followed by personality and behavioral changes, seizures, partial paralysis, hallucinations, and altered levels of consciousness. Brain damage in adults and in children beyond the neonatal period is usually seen in the frontal and temporal lobes and can be severe.
Type 2 virus (genital herpes) is most often transmitted through sexual contact. An infected mother can transmit the disease to her child at birth, through contact with genital secretions, but this is uncommon. In newborns, symptoms such as lethargy, irritability, tremors, seizures, and poor feeding generally develop between 4 and 11 days after delivery.
Powassan encephalitis is tick-borne. Symptoms are noticed 7-10 days following the bite and may include headache, fever, nausea, confusion, partial paralysis, and coma. Permanent neurologic damage occurs in about half of all cases and death in about 10-15 percent of all cases.
Mosquito born include: Equine encephalitis, LaCrosse encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/encephalitis_meningitis/detail_encephalitis_meningitis.htm