Causes And Symptoms Of Bacterial Meningitis

The article summarises a new programme that will be given to newborn babies against meningitis B. Meningitis is an infection of the membrane which surrounds the brain and spinal cord. This can affect anyone but young children are more vulnerable to the infection. Some symptoms that have been shown from the infection are high fever with cold hands and feet, agitation, misperception, sickness and headaches.

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

      Symptoms of meningitis are similar to those of the flu and are therefore easy to overlook. People with meningitis complain of symptoms such as headaches, fevers, stiff necks, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light. Some people develop a rash. Meningitis, if left untreated can spread quickly. It can spread throughout your entire body, and eventually lead to death within mere days, hours, of getting infected. It is important to seek treatment as soon as you think you might have Meningitis.

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

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).

It begins as minor flu symptoms. But then things seem to never get any better. As symptoms become more severe, a person is advised to go see a doctor. It turns out the individual did not have the flu. It was something far worse, something more treacherous, something more contagious, something chilling, something life-threatening. This disease is known as bacterial meningitis. It is possibly a college student’s worst nightmare, and a disease that students should be well informed about. But while the bacterial infection is rather rare, it’s also terminal, killing 10 to 12 percent of those it infects, sometimes within hours. The disease attacks and closes up major organs and prevents blood from circulating to limbs, causing tissue to die.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes surrounding your brain and spinal cord. There are many different types of meningitis causing bacteria, but the most common type of bacteria is Streptococcus pneumoniae, or better known as Pneumococcus in the medical community. There

Symptoms of Meningitis can be hard to handle from young children to elderly adults. Symptoms include headache, fever, and stiff neck.

In 1906 it was first discovered that horses were a viable source to make antibodies that could be used against the meningococcal bacteria. This was then further looked into and made more progress by an American scientist by the name of Simon Flexner. Flexner’s further development of the antibodies from the horses aided in the attempt to lower the mortality rate from the meningococcal disease. (1) The first reported case of using penicillin against meningitis and effectively working was not until over forty years later. Georg Joachmann, in Germany, and Flexner, in America, were the firsts to successfully treat meningitis with introduction of the serum therapy for meningococcal meningitis.

To avoid the advancement of bacterial meningitis (BM), it is appropriate to know the injury of bacterial producing meningitis together with its cure will typically rely on four major elements namely: The age of the patient; the severity of the injury; what organism is generating it and are more medical settings available? The cure for serious meningitis which is practically ever bacterial but can also be viral can have need of hospitalization [4].

Depending on the type of meningitis, there are many types of treatments. Bacterial meningitis, for example, must be treated immediately with venous antibiotics and corticosteroids. These helps to ensure recovery and reduce the risk of complications. (1) Potential complications include hydrocephalus, blindness, arthritis, myocarditis, pericarditis, and cognitive.

In order to be infested with Neisseria meningitidis, close prolonged contact from one person to the other must be present from anywhere between a two and ten day incubation period. (World Health Organisation, 2015.) Most of the consistently occurring symptoms of the disease include sensitivity to light, heavy breathing, cold chills and shivers, confusion, blood rashes, headaches, vomiting, high fevers and a stiff neck. (SEE APPENDIX 2.0) Initial diagnosis of Meningococcal meningitis is made by a clinical examination, and can be confirmed by growing the bacteria in specimens of spinal fluid or blood by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Although in most cases the disease is recognised during early stages, adequate treatment leads to the death of 5-10% of patients typically after twenty -four to forty-eight hours of experiencing symptoms. (World Health Organisation, 2015.) In serious cases, this bacterial meningitis can result in learning disabilities, hearing loss or severe damage to the blood stream, brain and spinal cord. Severe brain damage and blood poisoning can lead to a traumatic death, whilst serious spinal cord injuries leave victims paralysed. This affects approximately 10-20% of all survivors. (Disease Control,

Both of these diseases affect humans in diferent ways. The causative agent of meningitidis is Neisseria meningitidis. Some symptoms of this disease in infants start out as irrtability, the infant would not eat, and then vomiting which could lead to dehydration. (Todar, 15) As the meningitis get worse the infant may have apnea, seizures, disturbances in their motor skills, and even may develop into a coma. (Todar 15) The reason why meninigitis is so dangerous is because this disease makes the meninges in the spinal cord or brain become inflammed. In children and adults the symptoms start out with a headache then esclates to nausea, vomiting, skin rash and even photophobia which means being sensitive to the light.(Todar, 15) Also there are neurological problems that can form from meningitis. “..approximately one-third of patients have convulsions or coma when first seen by a physician.” States Kenneth Todar,PhD, in the article Pathogenic Neisseriae:gonorrhea and meningitis. Treatment for meningitidis is penicillin. (Todar, 18) One can get the meningoccal disease by association with infected individulas, nut they can prevent transmission by taking other medication such as antibiotic if the disease is in their home. (Todar,

Bacterial meningitis is the inflammation of the meninge layers of the central nervous system (the pia matter, arachnoid matter, and the dura matter). This disease in most cases is caused by these five microbes: