brain, spinal cord, and nerve disorders
Viral Meningitis
Causes of Viral Meningitis
The most common cause of viral meningitis is Overview of Enterovirus Infections , such as echovirus and coxsackievirus Enteroviruses tend to reside in the digestive tract. Infections are very contagious. Other common causes include Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Infections (HSV), usually type 2 (HSV-2) Varicella-zoster virus Viruses spread by mosquitoes (called Epidemic encephalitis ), such as Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection (HIV) HSV-2 causes Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Infections , a sexually transmitted infection that causes painful blisters in the genital area. HSV-2 can also cause symptoms of meningitis. HSV-2 meningitis usually occurs when the virus first infects the body. Genital and meningitis symptoms can occur at the same time. Symptoms of meningitis may appear before the genital symptoms, and some people have meningitis but do not have any genital symptoms. After symptoms disappear, HSV-2 remains in the body in a nonactive (dormant) state. That is, it does not cause symptoms. However, it can become active again (reactivate) periodically and cause symptoms. Thus, The varicella-zoster virus causes Chickenpox . Like HSV-2, the varicella-zoster virus remains in the body in a nonactive state. The virus may never cause symptoms again, or it may reactivate many years later. When it reactivates, it causes Zika Virus Infection and Occasionally, meningitis develops in people with COVID-19 . Rarely, this meningitis is caused by simultaneous infection with another virus (such as varicella-zoster virus). Viral meningitis can be spread in several ways, depending on the virus: Spread through the bloodstream from an infection in another part of the body (the most common way) Contact with contaminated stool, which may occur when infected people do not wash their hands after a bowel movement or when they swim in a public swimming pool (for enteroviruses) Sexual intercourse or other genital contact with an infected person (for HSV-2 and HIV) A bite of an insect, such as a mosquito (for West Nile virus, St. Louis virus, Zika virus, or Chikungunya virus) Spread through the air by inhaling the virus (for varicella-zoster virus) Contact with dust or food contaminated by the urine or stool of infected mice or pet hamsters (for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus) Use of infected needles to inject drugs (for HIV) Because of the way they are spread, some viruses (such as those spread by mosquitoes) cause meningitis only during certain seasons. 