Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2012 Jul 3:2012:bcr0320125970.
doi: 10.1136/bcr.03.2012.5970.

Acute encephalitis as initial presentation of primary HIV infection

Hipólito Nzwalo  1 , Rosário Pazos Añón, Maria João Àguas
Affiliations
Case Reports

Acute encephalitis as initial presentation of primary HIV infection

Hipólito Nzwalo et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Acute encephalitis is a life-threatening condition. A wide variety of infectious agents are implicated and in many patients no cause is found. HIV acute seroconversion illness can rarely present as acute encephalitis. Although most experts agree in starting antiretroviral treatment in severe acute HIV infection, the evidence of the benefits are still lacking. The authors report a case of severe acute encephalitis as a primary presentation of HIV infection in which introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment resulted in clinical recovery. This case highlights the need to consider HIV infection in the differential diagnosis of treatable viral encephalitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

References

    1. Boufassa F, Bachmeyer C, Carré N, et al. Influence of neurologic manifestations of primary human immunodeficiency virus infection on disease progression. SEROCO Study Group. J Infect Dis 1995;171:1190–5. - PubMed
    1. Newton PJ, Newsholme W, Brink NS, et al. Acute meningoencephalitis and meningitis due to primary HIV infection. BMJ 2002;325:1225–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meersseman W, Van Laethem K, Lagrou K, et al. Fatal brain necrosis in primary HIV infection. Lancet 2005;366:866. - PubMed
    1. Martin TM, Rich JD. Acute meningoencephalitis and meningitis due to primary HIV infection. Emerg Infect Dis 2009;15:129–31. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Smith DE, Walker BD, Cooper DA, et al. Is antiretroviral treatment of primary HIV infection clinically justified on the basis of current evidence? AIDS 2004;18:709–18. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances