Herpes simplex virus type 1 encephalitis: A prospective population-based cohort study.

Abstract

To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) encephalitis. Nationwide, prospective, population-based cohort study using the Danish Study Group for Infections of the Brain database to identify all adults hospitalized with microbiologically confirmed HSV-1 encephalitis from 2015-2023 in Denmark. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for 6-month mortality by time to acyclovir after admission and adjusted for age, sex, immunocompromise, altered mental status, and imaging abnormalities. Analysis was repeated post-hoc using time after lumbar puncture as reference. Overall, 154 patients with confirmed HSV-1 encephalitis were included yielding a mean annual incidence of 0.36/100.000. Frequent symptoms at admission included a history of fever 101/128 (79%) and confusion 99/154 (78%). The median times from admission to lumbar puncture and acyclovir treatment were 21 hours (interquartile range [IQR] 6-70) and 24 hours (IQR 7-74), respectively. The adjusted RR for 6-month mortality was 1.15 (95% CI 0.39-3.41) for acyclovir initiation >6 hours after admission and 1.06 (95% CI: 1.004-1.13) for each day of delay after admission. The adjusted RR of 6-month mortality was 1.85 (95% CI: 1.01-3.45) for delayed acyclovir treatment of >6 hours since lumbar puncture. Anti N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis was diagnosed in 9/154 (6%) of patients after HSV-1 encephalitis. Early recognition of HSV-1 encephalitis remains challenging, and the condition is associated with high mortality. Delayed acyclovir treatment, especially following lumbar puncture, was associated with increased risks of fatal outcome.