Infections of the Cerebellum

Infectious diseases still account for a significant amount of morbidity and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Although the Lancet’s latest Global Burden of Disease report indicates life expectancy has increased dramatically during the past decade, partly because of similar dramatic declines in infectious disease-related deaths, estimates are that nearly ten million people die yearly from communicable diseases or from complications arising from prior infection (e.g., liver cirrhosis or liver cancer after hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection). Infectious agents include organisms from multiple taxonomic groups and are categorized as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and others. Bacteria and fungi belong to separate taxonomic kingdoms. Viruses are unique and are generally considered to fall outside normal life taxonomy; however, they are, as a group, responsible for more suffering than any other group of infectious agents. Infectious diseases affect every organ system in the body. This chapter will focus on those agents that affect the human central nervous system, with more focus on the cerebellum.