Aseptic meningitis

Aseptic meningitis is a misnomer, but it is a term used clinically to designate an illness comprising meningeal irritation, fever, and alterations of consciousness of relatively acute onset, generally of viral but rarely of bacterial or other etiology. It is called ASEPTIC because no bacteria are found on Staining but it is infective condition in hte real sence.


The clinical course is less fulminant than that observed in pyogenic meningitis, and the CSF findings also differ between the two conditions. There is a lymphocytic pleocytosis, the protein elevation is only moderate, and the sugar content is nearly always normal. The viral aseptic meningitides are usually self-limiting and are treated symptomatically. In approximately 70% of cases, a pathogen can be identified, most commonly an enterovirus. Echovirus, coxsackievirus, and nonparalytic poliomyelitis are responsible for up to 80% of these cases.