Pathophysiology of

CNS infection
• Central nervous system (CNS) infections, including
meningitis, encephalitis, and brain abscess, are rare
but time-sensitive emergency department (ED)
diagnoses. Patients with CNS infection can present
to the ED with a host of non-specific signs and
symptoms, including headache, fever, altered
mental status, and behavioral changes. A brain
abscess forms when fungi, viruses, or bacteria reach
your brain through a wound in your head or an
infection somewhere else in your body. Brain
abscesses can also begin from an ear or sinus
infection, or even an abscessed tooth that tends to
occur in people with weakened immune systems.
The infection will cause your brain to swell from the
collection of pus and dead cells that forms.