DexEnceph

This is a study for patients with encephalitis (swelling of the brain) caused by a virus called herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Encephalitis can make you confused, drowsy, behave out of character, affect your sleep and memory, change your mood, cause you to have fits and often leaves patients with memory problems.

We want to find out if reducing the swelling with a drug called dexamethasone is of benefit to patient’s memory in the longer term.

Dexamethasone is a commonly used drug in brain swelling and many other conditions.

In the study there will be two groups of patients, one that receives dexamethasone for 4 days and one that does not.

Both groups will have the same investigations to see if dexamethasone has been of benefit.

The study is being run through Brain Infections UK from the Institute of Infection and Global Health in collaboration with the Encephalitis society and Walton Centre.

For more information on the trial visit www.dexenceph.org.uk.

HSV Hotline: 0300 008 0007

E-Mail: dexenceph@liverpool.ac.uk.