About encephalitis
Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain tissue. This stops the brain from working properly. It’s a serious condition.
Encephalitis can happen in children of all ages, although it’s uncommon.
Encephalitis is a medical emergency and needs immediate treatment. If you think your child might have encephalitis, take them to the nearest hospital emergency department or call 000 for an ambulance straight away.
Encephalitis symptoms
Encephalitis usually comes on very suddenly.
Children and teenagers with encephalitis might:
- become drowsy
- be confused
- start acting strangely
- have sudden changes in personality.
Sometimes, children and teenagers might complain of a severe headache, have a fever or have vomiting.
The illness can progress, causing symptoms like seizures, muscle weakness or paralysis. It might eventually lead to a coma.
Medical help: when to get it for children and teenagers with encephalitis
Your child needs urgent medical attention.
Immediately take your child to your nearest hospital emergency department or call 000 for an ambulance if your child:
- is confused, drowsy or not responding as they usually would
- has a sudden change in personality
- has a fever, vomiting or headache
- has seizures, arm or leg weakness, or other unusual body movements.
You know your child best. If your child seems unwell, seek medical attention.
Tests for encephalitis
If doctors think there’s a possibility of encephalitis, they’ll do a lot of tests to confirm your child’s diagnosis and work out the cause of the inflammation.
Your child might have blood tests, a lumbar puncture or an MRI.
Treatment for encephalitis
If your child has encephalitis, they’ll need to spend some time in hospital for close monitoring and care.
In hospital, your child might be given anti-viral medicine and antibiotics.
With treatment, most children make a full recovery.
Complications of encephalitis
If the encephalitis is severe, especially in younger children, there’s a chance of longer-term complications like muscle weakness or speech and developmental problems.
Prevention of encephalitis
The best thing to do is to have your child immunised and keep up with immunisation in the teenage years. This will help to protect your child against some of the causes of encephalitis.
Causes of encephalitis
The most common cause of encephalitis is a viral infection. The viruses that most often cause encephalitis are enterovirus, parechovirus, herpes simplex virus (which also causes cold sores) and the viruses that cause chickenpox, measles and glandular fever.
Encephalitis can also be caused by a bacterial infection, but this is rare.
Sometimes encephalitis might happen because of autoimmune disease.
For some people, the cause of encephalitis is never found.