Controversies in neurological infectious diseases

The past several years have seen major advances in our understanding of neu rological infectious diseases, their diagnosis, and their treatment. Along with these advances, however, new information about infectious agents and n ew therapeutic options have also introduced both uncertainty and controvers y in the approach and management of patients with diseases of the central n ervous system. Here, we discuss six such areas: the long-term efficacy of H AART therapy in treatment of HIV infection; the role of viral infection in chronic fatigue syndrome; Rasmussen's encephalitis as an infectious or auto immune disease; the spectrum of neurological diseases caused by rickettsial infection; the role of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in human central nervous syst em disease; and the possible association of Chlamydia pneumoniae and human herpesvirus 6 with multiple sclerosis.