What to know about meningitis
Meningitis may develop in response to a number of causes, usually bacteria or viruses. But meningitis, which is caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges, can also be caused by physical injury, cancer or certain drugs.
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The severity of illness and the treatment for meningitis differ depending on the cause. Thus, it is important to know the specific cause of meningitis.
Symptoms
Meningitis infection may show up in a person by a sudden onset of fever, headache and stiff neck. It will often have other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to light (photophobia) and altered mental status (confusion).
The symptoms of bacterial meningitis can appear quickly or over several days. Typically they develop within 3-7 days after exposure.
Severity of symptoms
Later symptoms of bacterial meningitis can be very severe (e.g., seizures, coma). For this reason, anyone who thinks they may have meningitis should see a doctor as soon as possible.
As this infection primarily targets the brain and the spinal cord, it will result in stiffness in the neck and the back. This happens as the membranes around the spinal cord and brain begin to swell, reducing the patient’s ability to move. Along with general stiffness, the patient will feel some level of discomfort and slight pain which over time may become more severe.
If you experience any kind of neck stiffness you should seek medical advice as soon as possible so you can rule out meningitis.
In many cases, people with meningitis will start off thinking they have a cold or the flu. This is a result of viral meningitis occurring as a result of an enterovirus, which usually results in some kind of mild cold and flu symptoms. So, you might experience a runny nose, slight coughing and a mild fever.
Viral and bacterial meningitis
Viral meningitis is another variety of meningitis that usually offers different symptoms, though it might also include the stiff neck symptom along with mild flu and cold-like symptoms.
Viral and bacterial meningitis can both cause a headache which is really difficult to get rid of. If you suffer from headaches regularly and you are finding that medication from the pharmacy is not helping, there’s definitely something wrong. If it is combined with neck stiffness, you should seek medical help
Skin rash is one of the best known symptoms of meningitis. It is common in children who develop meningitis, and will appear as red lumps and spots across the back and in children, the head. Young children will have a bulge on the soft part of their head along with circular red spots across the body
Diagnosis
If meningitis is suspected, samples of blood or cerebrospinal fluid (near the spinal cord) are collected and sent to the laboratory for testing. It is important to know the specific cause of meningitis because that helps doctors understand how to treat the disease, and possibly how bad it will get. In the case of bacterial meningitis, antibiotics can help prevent severe illness and reduce the spread of infection from person to person (depending on which bacteria are causing the infection).
Treatment
Bacterial meningitis can be treated effectively with antibiotics. It is important that treatment be started as soon as possible. Appropriate antibiotic treatment of the most common types of bacterial meningitis should reduce the risk of dying from meningitis to below 15 per cent, although the risk remains higher among young infants and the elderly.
Prevention
Maintaining healthy habits, like not smoking and avoiding cigarette smoke, getting plenty of rest, and not coming into close contact with people who are sick, can also help. This is especially important for infants, the elderly, and people with a weakened immune system, since they are at increased risk of severe disease.
It is quite common for people with meningitis to have seizures and fits as a result of toxins entering the fluid near the brain. In some instances these seizures can cause death.