Herpes simplex virus encephalitis

What it is

A rare disorder caused by infection of the central nervous system by Herpes simplex virus (HSV) that could have a devastating clinical course and a potentially fatal outcome particularly with delay or lack of treatment. This disorder often involves the frontal and temporal lobes, usually asymmetrically, resulting in personality changes, cognitive impairment, aphasia, seizures, and focal weakness.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (annual incidence)

Age of onset

All ages

Inheritance

Multigenic/multifactorial, Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

Genes

ICD-10 codes

ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references