What are meningitis and encephalitis?

Infections in the brain and spinal cord can cause dangerous inflammation, which can produce a wide range of symptoms, including fever, headache, or confusion and, in extreme cases, brain damage, stroke, seizures, or even death.

Infection of the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, is called meningitis, and the inflammation of the brain itself is called encephalitis. Myelitis is an infection of the spinal cord. When both the brain and the spinal cord become inflamed, the condition is called encephalomyelitis.

This answer is based on source material from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.