Is viral encephalitis?

When it comes to viral infections, we’d rather not think about them at all. But sometimes they happen, and when they do, they can be pretty scary – especially if the virus in question is messing around with your brain. That’s right folks, today we’re talking about viral encephalitis. It might sound like a fancy-schmancy medical term reserved for the elite few who know how to use words with more than three syllables but trust me, it affects us all.

What exactly is Viral Encephalitis?

Maybe you’ve heard of meningitis – oh come on, I’m sure you have – well imagine that same inflammation process but this time involving your brain tissue -yikes! Yep! When a person has encephalitis (pronounced: en-sef-a-LIE-tis), their brain tissue becomes swollen or inflamed as an after-effect of some kind of infection which can lead to other complications such as seizures and personality changes.

Ever heard people saying “look into my eyes”?

OR

If All Else Fails – Check Your Eyes!

That’s because one sign that somebody may have Encephalitic symptoms is a change in eye movements which could indicate swelling or pressure on certain parts of the brain. Other signs may include fever (no surprises there!) ,headaches from hell ,photophobia (a fear of light / over sensitivity towards bright lights) stiff necks and vomiting.

Who’s most at risk?

Before you start packing up all your belongings thinking ‘if it targets everyone then NO ONE IS SAFE’,stop worrying yourself silly right now—it seems like the only group really at high-risk for encephalitis are children under age 1 or adults over age 55 (hard luck sunny Jim!) Seems that older citizens don’t catch a break when it comes to viral infections…. wait.

At a Glance: Risk Factors

High-Risk Groups
• Children under age 1
• Adults over age 55

How does it spread?

So, this is where things get spooky… After an insect or infected animal (maybe even you as an unwitting participant) has transmitted the virus into human circulation, usually through a bite or direct contact with bodily fluids ,the process starts like any other infection; your immune system tries its level best to kill off the virus . However sometimes without warning things go haywire and -BOOM- (mic drop!)—your brain tissue becomes inflamed!

The scariest thing about viral encephalitis (and trust me there’re plenty of scary things out there) is that we all happen to be bitten by insects every day – whether they’re big like mosquitoes that are highly prevalent in certain parts of the world,or small ones like ticks that may escape notice unless using forceps which means pretty much everyone on earth can potentially fall victim.

Are Any Other Viruses associated with Encephalitis?

While researchers have long focused on these mosquito-borne viruses such as West Nile Virus ,(no not east coast fever!),Japenese Encephalitis Virus etc., BUT scientists also discovered a link between COVID and encephalopathy (they don’t put those photoshopped pictures about covid for nothing!) Now before we freak out let’s just remember chances for developing this issue remains relatively low so please don’t become another doomsday prepper AFTER reading my article!

What are some basic preventive measures?

Look folks,you needn’t swallow chlorophyll drinks or start practicing mystic yoga poses all because you’ve just read about encephalitis. Your good old-fashioned methods will still suffice phew.Since encephalitis is often the result of a viral infection, by all means keep clean ,keep up with vaccinations (no dodging needles!) and under no circumstances should you forget to stop mosquitoes from breeding; Here’re some measures to keep in mind:-

Prevention methods checklist

• Keep your surroundings clean
• Get vaccinated when possible
• Use mosquito repellents
• Wear protective clothing that covers your skin
• Regularly empty stagnant water (mosquitoes breed anywhere)

What are the treatment options?

Usually antiviral drugs such as Acyclovir can make recovering from Encephalitis easier although its effectiveness will depend on how bad your condition is-otherwise don’t lose faith as in majority of cases, people who have mild symptoms become better within several days or weeks without proper treatment. Despite it being considered rare compared to other conditions,viral encephalitis is nothing anyone wants to deal with because it has been known to cause long-term brain damage .

Conclusion

Now listen folks Whilst there’s loads more I could tell ye about this topic, we’ll leave those for another day . As always prevention is key;however If You Think YOU might be experiencing any of these symptoms you may want to consider speaking with a medical professional ASAP just so they check what’s going on upstairs…literally -your health depends on making that first step.

IN FACT IF THIS ARTICLE HAS TAUGHT ONE THING THEN THAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEANLINESS —CLEANLINESS IS KEY TO HEALTH AND SOUL.

Cheerio guys—I hope you’ve learned something new today!

(countered ‘look no further’)