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What Are the Causes of Viral Meningitis?

Viral meningitis (aseptic meningitis) is an infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine reports that this infection is more common in children younger than 5 but can also occur in adults. The symptoms of meningitis include headache, neck stiffness with an inability to touch the chin to the chest, nausea and vomiting. There can be many different causes of meningitis, and some may actually surprise you.

  1. Mumps

    • Mumps is caused by the paramyxovirus. It is a childhood virus that has a long incubation period. However, a complication of the mumps is meningitis. According to the CDC, meningitis may appear 3 to 10 days after the onset of the mumps. It affects approximately 50 to 60 percent of patients with mumps. However, when meningitis occurs in correlation with the mumps, it is usually a rather mild case.

    Measles

    • Measles (rubeola) can easily be contracted by adults and children. It is a very contagious disease. It causes an itchy red rash that begins on the head and moves down the body. It can also cause the individual to have a runny nose and cough and a fever. According to the CDC, if meningitis occurs after an outbreak of measles it will usually occur about 6 days after the onset of the rash.

    Enterovirus

    • The enterovirus has been known to cause flulike symptoms when contracted by people. Many people will mistakenly believe that they have the flu when in fact it was an enterovirus. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health website, enterovirus can cause viral meningitis. However, contracting viral meningitis from an enterovirus is not very common.

    Herpes Simplex Virus

    • According to the National Library of Medicine, herpes simplex virus can be a cause of viral meningitis. This is the same type of virus that causes cold sores or genital herpes in many people. However, this does not mean that if you have cold sores or genital herpes you are at an increased risk for meningitis. This cause of viral meningitis is something that will commonly occur in immunocompromised patients (such as HIV patients).

    Mosquito or Tick Bites

    • Some mosquitoes and ticks carry viruses that will cause meningitis. Oftentimes, medical personnel cannot be sure what the exact virus was that was transferred from the insect. The risk for contracting viral meningitis can increase when traveling to other countries, such as South America, where there is an increase in bug bites

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