Walsh & Hoyt: Neuritis

Neuritis is a generic term indicating inflammation of a nerve. The inflammation may result from the direct effects of an organism, from its antigenic effects on the immune system, or from mechanisms unrelated to current or previous infection or insult. Organisms capable of producing neuritis by direct infection of cranial or peripheral nerves include Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycobacterium leprae, Histoplasma capsulatum, Cryptococcus neoformans, trypanosomes, HIV, CMV, and Borrelia burgdorferi. In addition, both herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster virus can infect sensory ganglia and thus can cause both peripheral and cranial neuropathies.