Meningitis and Encephalitis

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction

   • Rodrigo Hasbun

   Pages 1-4

3. Community-Acquired Acute Bacterial Meningitis

   • Martin Glimaker

   Pages 5-25

4. Healthcare-Acquired Meningitis and Ventriculitis

   • Tricia Bravo, Adarsh Bhimraj

   Pages 27-42

5. Acute Aseptic Meningitis Syndrome

   • Rodrigo Hasbun

   Pages 43-55

6. Cryptococcal Meningitis

   • Ahmed Al Hammadi, Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner

   Pages 57-77

7. Challenges in Tuberculous Meningitis

   • Jeffrey R. Starke, Andrea T. Cruz

   Pages 79-96

8. Neurobrucellosis

   • Mushira Abdulaziz Enani

   Pages 97-106

9. West Nile Encephalitis

   • Megan McKenna, Shannon E. Ronca, Melissa S. Nolan, Kristy O. Murray

   Pages 107-124

10. Herpes Simplex and Varicella Zoster Virus

    • Karen C. Bloch

    Pages 125-140

11. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Associated CD8 Encephalitis

    • Steven Paul Woods, Rodrigo Hasbun

    Pages 141-151

12. Challenges in the Management and Prevention of Japanese Encephalitis

    • Quanhathai Kaewpoowat, Linda Aurpibul, Rommanee Chaiwarith

    Pages 153-174

13. Autoimmune Encephalitis

    • Arun Venkatesan, John C. Probasco

    Pages 175-190

14. Neurosyphilis

    • Prathit A. Kulkarni, Jose A. Serpa

    Pages 191-205

15. Neuroborreliosis

    • John J. Halperin

    Pages 207-216

16. Emerging Causes of Encephalitis: Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, and Beyond

    • Mario Luis Garcia de Figueiredo, Luiz Tadeu Moraes Figueiredo

    Pages 217-227

17. Back Matter

    Pages 229-238

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Meningitis and Encephalitis are associated with high rates of mortality and neurological sequelae.  The differential diagnosis includes a wide spectrum of infectious and non-infectious etiologies, some requiring urgent therapy for survival. The current management challenges in patients with meningitis and encephalitis include a low sensitivity of meningeal signs,  overutilization of unnecessary screening cranial imaging, delays in diagnosis of urgent treatable causes, a large proportion of unknown etiologies, low sensitivity of current microbiological techniques especially in the setting of previous antibiotic therapy, underutilization of available molecular diagnostic tests, and empiric antibiotic therapy and hospitalization for viral meningitis cases.  Even though there are published guidelines, compliance with them is not optimal and physicians do not follow standardized algorithms in their empirical approach. As meningitis and encephalitis is associated with high rates of adverse clinical outcomes, prevention, when feasible is of upmost importance. Adherence to protocols to prevent health-care associated meningitis and ventriculitis are effective but compliance with them is not uniformly performed.


This book seeks to improve outcomes for meningitis and encephalitis cases handled by physicians who may or may not be thoroughly trained for these challenges. The text introduces the current guidelines but also discusses the gaps that leave clinicians struggling to implement the most appropriate approaches for these particular neurological infections. Each chapter delivers the tools necessary to identify and adhere to the most appropriate diagnostic technique, management protocols, and prevention approach for each situation. All chapters conclude with discourse on future directions in research and quality improvement. Written by experts in infectious diseases, the book covers topics that are the most devastating, includinghealthcare-acquired infections, autoimmune encephalitis, and infections as they present in HIV patients.


Meningitis and Encephalitis is a well-rounded resource for all medical professionals encountering these neurological syndromes, including infectious disease specialists, neurologists, primary care physicians, and immunologists.

• Community-acquired Meningitis
• HIV associated encephalitis
• Autoimmune encephalitis
• Neurosyphilis
• Neuroborreliosis
• infectious diseases

• UT Health-McGovern Medical School, Houston, USA

  Rodrigo Hasbun

Rodrigo Hasbun, MD, MPH

University of Texas-Health Sciences Center at Houston

Department of Internal Medicine

Division of Infectious Diseases

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