The difference between a child's fever and headache and encephalitis

Many parents know the consequences of encephalitis. In severe cases, it can directly cause children to become stupid and affect their intelligence. However, parents should not scare themselves, as a fever does not necessarily mean encephalitis. Encephalitis can cause fever, but it can also be accompanied by headaches, nausea and vomiting. In severe cases, it can be accompanied by impaired consciousness. Therefore, if parents want to prevent this from happening, they must send their children to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. Parents can learn about the clinical manifestations of encephalitis and learn to distinguish between fever and encephalitis.

Clinical manifestations

1. Systemic toxic blood symptoms

Fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue. A few patients have hemorrhagic rash and myocarditis symptoms.

2. Neurological symptoms

Impaired consciousness, meningeal irritation signs. Flaccid paralysis of the cervical and scapular muscles may occur, causing the head to droop and the arms to be unable to be raised, resulting in the person tottering and helpless. Involvement of cranial nerves and lower limbs is rare. Paralysis can be recovered in 2 to 3 weeks, and about half of the muscles will atrophy. Mild cases may have no obvious neurological symptoms.

Because the location and severity of the lesions vary, the manifestations are varied. Diffuse encephalitis often starts with general discomfort, followed by coma and convulsions, accompanied by fever; brainstem encephalitis often has symptoms such as facial nerve paralysis, choking, dysphagia, limb numbness, weakness and (or) oculomotor nerve paralysis, pseudobulbar palsy, etc. Pseudotumor encephalitis often presents with headache, vomiting, poor limb movement or paralysis, aphasia, mental symptoms, and intracranial hypertension. At the same time, pay attention to the symptoms of the primary disease, such as mumps virus encephalitis accompanied by parotid gland swelling; herpes virus encephalitis with herpes on the skin, coxsackievirus and echovirus encephalitis may have rash, myocarditis, hand, foot and mouth disease, etc. If the lesion involves the meninges (meningoencephalitis), positive meningeal irritation signs will appear.

complication

Common complications include bronchopneumonia, which is more common in patients with coma or bulbar palsy, as well as myocarditis and herpes labialis. If irregular breathing rhythm or unequal pupils occur, the possibility of intracranial hypertension and brain herniation should be considered.