Bacterial Meningitis

There are over 4000 people affected by bacterial meningitis and around 500 deaths from this in the US every year ("Meningitis."). 6000 cases of pneumococcal meningitis are reported in the US each year and meningococcal meningitis infects close to 2600 people in the US each year ("Meningitis."). 10-15% of these meningococcal cases are fatal, while an additional 10-15% lives with permanent

     3,000 Americans contract Bacterial Meningitis each year. Out of those 3,000, about 10 %, or 300 people, die from the infection. Approximately 125 of these cases occur on college campuses across the country. Out of these campus outbreaks, there is an annual average of 10 student deaths.

Meningitis can be destructive without proper understanding of what it is caused by. There are three types of meningitis- bacterial, fungal, and viral. Contrasting factors tend to arise during a comparison of them. One of the most notable areas that viral, fungal and bacterial meningitis differ in are their treatment ability. However, they have the same general affects on the human body. In any case, there are tests that doctors can utilize in order to discover if the meningitis is bacterial, fungal, or viral.

First, the patient would have a fever, headache, or vomiting just as the flu. Then, he would think that it is just the flu and treat it that way according to his previous knowledge. After that, the symptoms and the disease are going to get worse, more severe, and more developed because of the ignorance and the lack of awareness about the only sign that differs meningitis and flu from each other. However, the patient at this moment would go to the doctor seeking the treatment, but it is too late (1). Also, some students ignore the meningitis vaccines and in light of this fact the chances of getting meningitis are high. “Up to a quarter of students carry the bacteria that can cause meningitis compared to one in ten of the general population." (2). Stress also play a critical role besides these two affecters on the chances of getting

Ten to fifteen percent of cases are fatal. Ten to fifteen percent of patients who recover have permanent hearing loss, mental retardation, loss of limbs, brain damage, or learning disability in ten to twenty percent of survivors. (WHO, 2004) The groups at risk for this disease include the general population, infants and young children, refugees, household contacts of case patients, military recruits, college freshmen who live in dormitories, people exposed to firsthand and secondhand smoke, and microbiologists who work with isolates of Neisseria Meningitidis. (CDC, 2004)

9. The most common causes of bacterial meningitis in neonates are group B streptococci and Escherichia coli. The administration of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and the Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal) vaccines have reduced the incidence of meningitis from these pathogens (Al Bekairy, Al Harbi, & Aikatheri, 2014 ).

Bacterial Meningitis affects the nervous system by causing inflammation of a trio of membranes known as the Meninges that are situated around the brain and spinal cord. It 's a disease that is slowly but surely being defeated worldwide with mortality rates falling from 464,000 deaths in 1990 to 303,000 in 2013[3]. Common symptoms throughout the period of an infection include; headaches, vomiting, fever, neck stiffness and an altered mental state. The severity of symptoms can depend on the species of bacteria that caused the infection. Due to recent medical advancements the rates of mortality have fallen considerably in the developed world, however meningitis is still prevalent in less economically developed countries. In this document I will be describing the various inner workings of the disease, but more specifically, it 's pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and preventative methods, furthermore I shall also be focusing more on the prevalence of the disease in the UK, as opposed to other locations. [1]

There are three types of pathogens that cause meningitis. The first type of pathogen is Haemophilus influenzae type b. It is an aerobic gram-negative bacteria, meaning they have relatively thin cell walls and can be resistant to antibiotic treatment. In 95% of invasive diseases are caused by type b. Before the introduction of a vaccine, it was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis most common in infants. The organism colonizes in the nasopharynx (the upper part of the throat behind the nose) and can sometimes invade the bloodstream and cause infection at a distant site.

If an individual shows signs and symptoms of meningitis, do not delay medical treatment. The main symptoms include fever, headache, and neck stiffness that makes it difficult to touch one’s chin to their chest. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, confusion, drowsiness, sensitivity to bright light, poor appetite, and can even cause seizures or comas. Do wait for more symptoms to develop. Once meningitis enters the bloodstream, an individual will begin having abnormal skin color, stomach cramps, cold hands and feet, skin rash, muscle aches, joint pains, respiratory distress, and chills (Benaroch, R., MD. (2015, June 7). Act fast if these sign and symptoms occur. Bacterial Meningitis can kill an individual in just four hours after symptoms being to show. There are vaccines for bacterial Meningococcal Meningitis that can prevent the spread of this

N. meningitidis produce an antiphagocytic capsular polysaccharide, which is a coat with highly variable surface proteins, to permit evasiveness. Additional mechanisms such has having a high variable pili and producing high amounts of endotoxin lipopolysaccharide contributes to its pathology. N. meningitidis also happens to require iron reduction as part of their metabolism and growth and therefore validates humans as their optimal reservoirs. Other requirements for bacterial metabolism, growth and virulence are mineral salts, pyruvate, lactate, amino acids (GC), and glutamic acid. When infection occurs, N. meningitidis will aggregate blood cells

5. Describe in detail the mode of action of this antibiotic and how it would be effective in treating the microbe causing bacterial meningitis. The mode of action would be to treat for 3 to 7 days of intravenous or intramuscular with penicillin or ceftriaxone. This can also be treated with other antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, meropenem and fluoroquinolones. A person is still infectious as long as menigococci is present in oral or respiratory secretions or if they have been on effective antibiotic treatments for 24

Meningococcal Meningitis is the infection and inflammation of the meninges. Newborns and infants are at greatest risk for contracting bacterial meningitis with Neisseria meningitides being the typical pathogen in the majority of children age 2 months through 12 years (London, Ladewig, Ball, Bindler, & Cowen, 2011). There is a mortality rate of 10% for children who develop meningitis from this particular bacterium (Muller, 2013).

Meningococcal Meningitis is a dangerous bacterial infection that has taken the lives of many people since it has been discovered. This particular form of meningitis can be detected by symptoms that someone experiences and can also sometimes be treated. There are now methods of prevention in order to try to avoid outbreaks from occurring. This blood borne pathogen is extremely dangerous and can greatly damage someone’s life.

There are multiple different types of bacteria that can cause bacterial meningitis, which were discovered in the late 19th century. These bacteria’s are Streptococcus pneumonia, Streptococcus pneumonia, and Haemophilus influenza. (1) Russian physician Vladimir Kernig and Polish physician Jozef Brudzinski both separately found other symptoms of meningitis this leading to the Kernig’s sign and the Brudzinski sign.

Meningococcal disease is a large concern in the medical field because it is unbiased towards the patients it infects. There has been limited success in trying to eliminate this disease. Antibiotics play a role in helping to treat patients with bacterial meningitis, and steroids have been tested to help reduce risk factors. Prevention has also become a key issue because meningitis can only be spread through direct contact with infected body fluid. The best prevention is to maintain clean hygiene. Vaccines are another way of preventing disease. However, there are multiple serogroups of meningitis that makes creating a universal vaccine extremely difficult. So far, there have only been two