[Infection-caused mental disorders. Are they still topical in the antibiotic era?]

Of 104 patients treated in a psychiatric hospital because of mental disturbances caused by an infection, almost one-half had been referred directly to the psychiatric hospital on account of their psychically abnormal behaviour. The infectious disease causing these disturbances was diagnosed only after their admission. In most of the cases the psychic abnormalities did not seem to be due to a physical cause, so that the somatic examination was frequently delayed. Pneumonic infections were most frequently seen, but there were also numerous other infections from all other disciplines of medicine. Clouding of consciousness developed rapidly in 84% of the patients during the course of inpatient treatment with an incidence that was almost fivefold that of the initial stage. Visual hallucinations (37%) were the most frequent productive-psychotic phenomenon. 45% of the patients presented with a delirious pattern and 4% with a psychosis resembling schizophrenia. In 35% of the patients treatment with psychotropic drugs proved necessary, whereas with the remaining 65% therapy remained antibiotic or generally somatic only. 18% of the patients died.