Question
The child had a severe abdominal pain one night in early October, accompanied by a headache. The next day, after seeing a doctor, the pain subsided. On October 18th at noon, while bending down to tie the shoes, the child suddenly fainted. They were conscious at the time, with no noticeable tremors in their limbs, pale complexion, and were rushed to the hospital where no abnormalities were found. Two days after being discharged, the child experienced headache and dizziness without a clear cause, followed by a seizure that lasted several minutes and stopped on its own. Later that night, there were frequent rapid limb twitches lasting several seconds, accompanied by confusion and incoherent speech, with no vomiting. Starting from October 25th, the left limb exhibited intermittent stiffness for 10 to 30 minutes at a time, occurring 7 to 8 times a day without any significant loss of consciousness. Throughout the illness, there was no fever, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. The condition worsened over time, leading to treatment at a provincial hospital where medications such as intravenous immunoglobulin and acyclovir were administered, along with nutritional nerve medications, but with no significant effect. After one week of admission, the diagnosis was viral encephalitis. The condition gradually worsened with multiple severe seizures daily, requiring sedatives but with poor results. Consciousness slowly diminished, and the child was transferred to the intensive care unit with severe lung infection requiring mechanical ventilation. There were occasional minor seizures and low-grade fever with low blood pressure.
Answer
Viral encephalitis may be caused by viral infection and currently lacks specific treatment. It is mainly treated with general supportive therapy and…