RT Book, Section
A1 Maski, Kiran P.
A1 Ullrich, Nicole J.
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 7057091
T1 Chapter 555. Infections of the Central Nervous System
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7057091
RD 2024/04/24
AB Infections  of  the  central  nervous  system  (CNS)  are  less  frequent  than  infections  of  other  organ  systems,  because  the  brain  is  protected  by  both  the  anatomic  barrier  of  the  bony  skull  and  blood-brain  barrier.  Nevertheless,  CNS  infections  remain  a  significant  cause  of  morbidity  and  mortality  in  children.  Classic  signs  and  symptoms  of  CNS  infections  are  often  not  present  or  more  subtle  in  young  children,  thereby  making  accurate  diagnosis  a  challenge  for  the  general  pediatrician  (Table  555-1).  The  outcome  of  CNS  infection  predominantly  depends  on  the  site  of  infection  and  etiologic  organism  in  addition  to  host  immune  status.  For  full  description  of  bacterial  and  viral  CNS  infections,  see  Chapters  231  and  232.  In  this  chapter,  we  focus  on  the  neurologic  presentation  of  CNS  infections  and  discuss  the  unique  CNS  involvement  of  purulent  CNS  infections,  latent  viral  infections,  and  prion  diseases.