Incidence. Clinical and laboratory findings of herpes simplex encephalitis

Abstract:
Encephalitis is one of the relatively uncommon causes of hospitalization in children's wards, which is associated with long-term debilitating complications. The purpose of the present study is to determine the prevalence and symptoms of herpes encephalitis in the Imam educational and therapeutic center. The methodology of the present study is a descriptive retrospective study on children who discharged from the children's ward of Imam Hospital with the diagnosis of encephalitis (between April 2014 and September 2019). The information obtained by referring to the patients' files. The virology test used in this study is HSV PCR.
18 patients who diagnosed with meningoencephalitis and herpes simplex encephalitis in Imam Hospital during the last 5 years (2014-2019) and treated 11 male patients (61%) and 7 female patients (39 %) in 18 hospitalized patients.
The most common clinical symptoms were fever above 38°C, followed by decreased level of consciousness and convulsions, among which behavioral changes have the lowest prevalence
Considering the high morbidity and mortality of the disease and the need for early treatment, a detailed history and complete clinical examination, observing symptoms related to brain and meningeal involvement and performing tests including CSF examination, CT scan and MRI can
They provide the doctor with key points in the early diagnosis of the disease.
Considering the many advances made in the field of viral agent detection, laboratory methods such as PCR and Ab sampling method against HSV in blood and CSF can be more helpful in diagnosing the disease.