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Infectious Causes of Epilepsy?

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Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions of the Nervous System

Abstract

Epilepsy occurs throughout the world, and the prevalence appears to be higher in areas in which the incidence of infections of the central nervous system (CNS) is greater. However, establishing the causal relationship between infections and the development of epilepsy is difficult, since epilepsy occurs a variable period after an acute infection. In addition to this, not all people with chronic infestations of parasites develop epilepsy. We discuss possible CNS infections, particularly the neglected diseases associated with epilepsy, looking at possible mechanisms of epileptogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

CRJCN is funded by The Wellcome Trust, UK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme, Centre for Geographical Medicine (Coast), Kilifi, Kenya

    Charles R. Newton

  2. Clinical Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Charles R. Newton

  3. Neurosciences Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK

    Charles R. Newton

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Charles R. Newton

  5. MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Ryan G. Wagner

  6. Division of Epidemiology and Global Health, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Ryan G. Wagner

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  1. Charles R. Newton
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Correspondence to Charles R. Newton .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Verona, Italy

    Marina Bentivoglio

  2. Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Escola Paulista de Medicina/Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM/UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil

    Esper A. Cavalheiro

  3. Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Krister Kristensson

  4. Department of Physiology School of MedicineCollege of Health Science, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

    Nilesh B. Patel

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Newton, C.R., Wagner, R.G. (2014). Infectious Causes of Epilepsy?. In: Bentivoglio, M., Cavalheiro, E., Kristensson, K., Patel, N. (eds) Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions of the Nervous System. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8100-3_20

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