For some years all over the world il 22 February is celebrated on World Encephalitis Dayor World Encephalitis Day. The anniversary aims to increase awareness of this type of emerging pathologies: in fact they are over 500 thousand the people who every year in the world are affected by encephalitis. Promoting the world day is theEncephalitis Society with the aim of raising awareness among citizens, doctors and institutions on a complex of diseases – mainly infectious but in some cases also autoimmune – which over the last few years has seen important and significant progress in diagnosis and therapy but which require not let your guard down. To raise awareness among the population, the international project “Illuminate Encephalitis” was born (which involves the red lighting of the monuments of the participating cities) and the “RED4WED” campaign (in Red for the World Encefalitis Day) which invites all people to wear something red, sharing their photographs on social media.
Also the Operational Units of Infectious Diseases (Director Dr. Marco Belgiore) e di Neurology (Acting Director Dr. Daniela Gragnaniello) of the Ferrara University Hospital are committed every day to the diagnosis and treatment of these pathologies.
“During 2023 – comments Dr. Lebanonre – our local epidemiological situation was characterized by an increase in herpetic forms, affecting elderly and/or immunocompromised patients, while West Nile infections spared our province, to the detriment of areas further north or west of Northern Italy . This is in relation to the spread and movements of migratory birds, carriers of this arbovirus. There Clinical Microbiology Section of the Cona hospital has made cutting-edge methods available to allow a detailed and circumstantial diagnosis of all encephalitic forms observed in hospital settings. The awareness campaign regarding these non-negligible diseases is aimed at citizens, patients, family members and institutions so that they continue to guarantee every possibility of diagnosis and treatment for encephalitis”.
“It is important to remember – adds Dr. Gragnaniello – that to prevent infectious (germ-borne) encephalitis, a few simple rules are needed:
– follow good hygiene standards, washing your hands well and often with soap and water, especially after using the bathroom and before and after meals;
– do not exchange crockery, bottles and glasses with other people;
– get vaccinated against microbes that can cause encephalitis;
– protect yourself from insect bites”.
THE PATHOLOGY. Encephalitis is a inflammatory process of the central nervous system – mostly affecting the brain, but often with associated involvement of the meninges (meningoencephalitis) or the medulla (encephalomyelitis) or sometimes both – configuring composite pictures of meningo-encephalo-myelitis. Its causes are multiple, infectious and autoimmune, sometimes difficult to identify.
Initial symptoms can be subtle and nonspecific such as headache, fever, muscle and joint pain, fatigue and weakness. These can evolve into more serious conditions. Often recovery is complete but deficits may remain, sometimes even serious, so it may be difficult for those affected by this disease to resume usual activities such as returning to work or studies. This is also in consideration of the fact that attention and memory difficulties, difficulty concentrating, behavioral changes, increased fatigue and sometimes epilepsy may persist. The diagnosis of encephalitis involves doctors of different specializations, primarily neurologists, infectious disease specialists and microbiologists, and can be supported by various laboratory and instrumental tests such as CSF examination, EEG and brain CT/MRI.