Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) consist of infections primarily of the brain and spinal cord. They include mostly viral infections, less commonly bacterial infections, fungal infections, prion diseases and protozoan infections. Neonatal meningitis is a particular classification by age.
By anatomical site
Brain abscess, Epidural abscess, including spinal epidural and cranial epidural
Encephalitis
Meningitis
By cause
There are five main causes of CNS infections, namely bacterial, viral, fungal, protozoal, protozoan infections and prionic infections.
Viral
Most forms of aseptic meningitis are viral in origin, though neoplastic and Lyme disease meningitis are also aseptic. California encephalitis virus Central nervous system viral disease Cytomegalovirus encephalitis SARS-CoV-2 Eastern equine encephalitis Enterovirus encephalitis Epstein Barr Virus encephalitis Herpes simplex encephalitis Influenza encephalitis Japanese encephalitis La Crosse encephalitis Lymphocytic choriomeningitis by Arenavirus Measles encephalitis Mumps Nipah virus encephalitis Poliomyelitis Progressive rubella panencephalitis, a late complication of congenital rubella syndrome St. Louis encephalitis Slow virus infections, which include: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis by Measles virus Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy Rabies Tick-borne encephalitis Varicella Viral encephalitis lists 37 causes Viral meningitis Western equine encephalitis
Prionic
These are transmissible spongiform encephalopathies like: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle Chronic wasting disease in deer Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and its variant Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome Kuru Scrapie in sheep and goat Transmissible mink encephalopathy Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy
Fungal
Cryptococcal meningitis
Protozoan
Amoebic brain abscess
Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis
Malaria
Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis
Toxoplasmosis
Post-infectious diseases of the central nervous system
These are not infections but post-infectious CNS diseases: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis Guillain–Barré syndrome PANDAS (controversial hypothesis) Sydenham's chorea