Suspected herpes simplex encephalitis
Educational use only. Not clinically reviewed37-year-old man for calm early antiviral, multimodal diagnostic, and active-risk handoff practice. About 7 simulated minutes.
What you will practise
- Reconcile the fever clock, altered cognition and behavior, language change, focal seizure, physiology, and whole patient.
- Activate qualified neurological, infection, neurocritical, airway-capable, nursing, and seizure ownership.
- Activate a qualified immediate empiric antiviral pathway without waiting for MRI, EEG, CSF, or PCR certainty.
- Review supplied MRI, EEG, CSF, etiologic, and nonconvulsive-seizure boundaries.
- At a strict later report, integrate the early negative HSV PCR and persistent clinical trajectory without premature closure.
- After another elapsed interval, hand off repeat testing, antiviral safety, seizure, autoimmune, rehabilitation, and active risk.
Review and sources
Not clinically reviewed. No clinician has signed this scenario.
- Meyding-Lamadé U, Craemer EM, Aydin K, et al. S1 guidelines of the German Society of Neurology for Viral Meningoencephalitis. Neurol Res Pract. 2026;8:24. doi:10.1186/s42466-026-00487-3.
- Tunkel AR, Glaser CA, Bloch KC, et al. The Management of Encephalitis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis. 2008;47:303-327. doi:10.1086/589747.
Open Sim Lab is an educational simulator, not for clinical use. It is not a clinical decision-support tool, not a dosing calculator, and is not validated for any decision affecting a real patient.