Encephalitis

Encephalitis, inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It may be a specific disease due to an insect-borne virus, or it may occur as a result of influenza, measles, German measles, chicken pox, or other diseases. Symptoms include headache, listlessness, and convulsions. A large number of organisms may invade the nervous system or its coverings (meninges), thus causing many forms of encephalitis or meningitis or a combination of both. When the disorder is described as meningitis, damage to the brain or spinal cord is secondary to the inflammation of the coverings. In encephalitis, if the coverings or meninges suffer at all, they do so secondarily to the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.