HSV encephalitis

What it means

Infection of the brain parenchyma with herpes simplex virus, resulting in inflammation of the brain parenchyma with neurologic dysfunction.

Although infection with HSV is very common in the population, only a miniscule proportion of infected persons develop encephalitis, so that an occurrence of HSV encephalitis is interpreted as a sign of increased susceptibility to HSV. Herpes encephalitis may occur in immunocompromised patients, but HSV-1 is consistently the single most common cause of sporadic encephalitis worldwide.

Rare diseases that can present with this1

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Herpes encephalitis · Herpes simplex encephalitis