Should there be a standardised approach to the diagnostic workup of suspected adult encephalitis? a case series from Australia

Table 2 Signs and symptoms "at presentation"* for all hospitalised adult encephalitis cases in three Hunter New England hospitals, Australia, July 1998-December 2007

Symptoms at presentation	Cases, n = 74 (%)
Fever	57 (77.0%)
Altered Consciousness State (ACS) including irritability and/or coma	51 (68.9%)
Headache	46 (62.1%)
Encephalitis "triad" (headache, fever, ACS)	26 (35.1%)
Other symptoms:
Lethargy	24 (32.4%)
Focal neurological signs	23 (31.1%)
Seizures	19 (25.7%)
Photophobia	13 (17.6%)
Neck stiffness	11 (14.9%)
Abnormal behaviour	9 (12.1%)
Rash	7 (9.5%)
Myalgia and/or arthralgia	2 (2.7%)

*a sign/symptom was considered to be present "at presentation" if the patient/next of kin reported to have had the sign/symptom in the 24 hours prior to presentation or if it was documented in the patient record during the first 48 hours of their admission.

ISSN: 1471-2334