- meningoencephalitis
- An inflammation of the brain and its membranes. SYN: cerebromeningitis, encephalomeningitis. [meningo- + G. enkephalos, brain, + -itis, inflammation]- biundulant m. SYN: tick-borne encephalitis (Central European subtype).- eosinophilic m. a disease caused by infection with the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, whose larvae, ingested with infected slugs or land snails (or some unidentified transport host), migrate from intestine to the meninges of the brain where the disease is produced; it is usually mild, of short duration, and characterized by fever, eosinophilia, and white blood cells (rarely nematode larvae) in the spinal fluid.- herpetic m. a severe form of m. caused by herpesvirus type 1 and associated with a high mortality rate.- mumps m. a usually benign nervous system infection arising during the active phase of clinical mumps parotiditis.- primary amebic m. an invasive, rapidly fatal cerebral infection by soil amebae, chiefly Naegleria fowleri, found in humans and other primates and experimentally in rodents; the disease is characterized by a high fever, neck rigidity, and symptoms associated with upper respiratory infection such as cough and nausea; although organisms have been cultured from various organs, the brain is the primary focus, especially the olfactory lobes and cerebral cortex, which are first attacked by the amebae that enter from nasal mucosa through the cribriform plate; death usually occurs two to three days after onset of symptoms.
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me·nin·go·en·ceph·a·li·tis -ən-.sef-ə-'līt-əs n, pl -lit·i·des -'lit-ə-.dēz inflammation of the brain and meninges called also encephalomeningitis* * *
n.inflammation of the brain and its membranous coverings (the meninges) caused by bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. The disease may also involve the spinal cord, producing myelitis with paralysis of both legs, sometimes called meningomyelitis.* * *
me·nin·go·en·ceph·a·li·tis (mə-ning″go-ən-sef″ə-liґtis) [meningo- + encephalo- + -itis] inflammation of the brain and meninges. Called also cerebromeningitis and encephalomeningitis.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
