West nile virus differential diagnosis
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
West nile virus infection must be differentiated from other diseases that cause skin rash, fever, headaches, and altered mental status, such as: herpes virus encephalitis, enterovirus encephalitis, bacterial encephalitis, metabolic encephalitis, poliomyelitis,
Differential Diagnosis
West Nile Fever
| Disease | Findings |
|---|---|
Severe West Nile Virus Infection
| Disease | Findings |
|---|---|
| HSV encephalitis | Headache, fever, history of herpes virus infection |
| Enterovirus encephalitis | Encephalitis symptoms associated with sore throat, diarrhea, skin rash, and altered mental status. |
| Metabolic and toxic encephalopathy | The majority of patients present with altered mental status, additional findings include signs of uremia, electrolyte disturbances, and history of drug intake or overdose. |
| Bacterial encephalitis | Patients present with altered mental status, toxic-appearance, fever, CSF findings will include high level of neutrophils, high protein and low glucose levels. |
| Guillain-Barré syndrome | Often presents with distal, ascending, symmetrical paralysis with abolished reflexes, and it is associated with a recent viral or bacterial gastroenteritis. |
| Acute Poliomyelitis | Patients may present with flaccid paralysis |