central nervous system infections
Last reviewed 01/2018
CNS infections are a serious cause of morbidity and mortality, in which prompt diagnosis and treatment is paramount.
Some neurologists use the term meningo-encephalitis to emphasise the blurring of features between meningitis - itself an infection of the meninges around the brain - and encephalitis - an infection of the brain itself. Thus, meningitis causes a CNS inflammation, i.e. an encephalitis, and encephalitis leads to meningism. For the purposes of this program, the phenomena have been separated.