Recurrent Bacterial Meningitis

Meningitis, also known as spinal meningitis, is a viral or bacterial infection causing inflammation of the membranes, called meninges. Meninges act as a natural protective barrier that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. When the barrier is permeable, infections are able to transmit a disease in or through and cause serious or even fatal effects. There are different causes for the different categories of meningitis resulting in different symptoms and severities in each.

Meningitis is a serious infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It is caused by meningococcal disease, which is contracted by 1,000 to 2,600 people yearly in the United States. Meningococcal disease is also serious, with one in ten cases leading to

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]

Meningococcal Meningitis is the inflammation of the protective coverings of brain and spinal cord called the meninges. Meningococcal Meningitis is caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria (Theobald, M, 2014). There are five forms of meningitis, bacterial being the most fatal. The other form types are viral, parasitic, fungal, and non-infectious. Meningococcal Meningitis can also be caused by other bacterium called Streptococcus pneumoniae, group B Streptococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, and, Listeria monocytogenes (CDC, 2016). Without any treatment of meningitis, it can spread into the blood and cause sepsis--when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection, trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2016). Meningitis is usually caused as a secondary infection when it makes its way into the central nervous

Meningococcal meningitis: In Europe and the Americas, serogroups B and C are predominant while in Africa serogroups A and C are dominant; serogroup W-135 is pandemic and serogroup Y as the dominant strain of infection in the United States and Canada. There are 75-80% of patients acquiring this type of infection which is an infection of the brain and spinal cord with a mortality rate of 2-4%. Bacterial meningitis causes brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities to those that do survive. Meningococci shed their endotoxin, which damages tissues and activates the cytokine cascade (inflammation). This then allows them access to the subarachnoid space causing the blood-brain barrier to seep.

Meningitis is potentially fatal and should always be viewed as a medical emergency. Admission to a hospital or health center is absolutely necessary. After the lumbar puncture has been carried out, antimicrobial therapy must be commenced as soon as possible. There may be difficulty to growing the bacteria from the spinal fluid and confirming the diagnosis, if started before the lumbar puncture. A range of antibiotics used for treatment include penicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and ceftriaxone. (WHO, 2004) It can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics. However, it is very important that treatment be started early in the course of the disease. Appropriate antibiotic treatment

1. What type of agar is used for the growth of these bacteria? The identification of N. meningitides, H. influenza and S. pneumonia can be done through the cytology of CSF and through the specifics of colony morphology on blood or chocolate agar.

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).

Neisseria meningitidis is an injurious and possibly deadly disease-causing bacterium in humans of any age. The most common ages affected by bacterial meningitis are infants, children, and young adults. (1,3) Neisseria meningitidis is a fast-acting bacterium that can kill the host within 6 hours of the onset of symptoms. An estimated 10% of infected persons will die from the disease even with antibiotic treatment. (4) Any disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis is classified as meningococcal and the diseases caused are meningococcal meningitis and meningococcal septicemia. (2) The most common cause of bacterial meningitis is Neisseria meningitidis, which is a vaccine preventable disease. The availability of a vaccine to protect against this

Meningitis instantly can strike and the impact of that strike can forever last a lifetime.  Meningitis is the inflammation and infection of the meninges that surround your brain and spinal cord.  This infection, which can be bacterial, viral or fungal can be very serious and can cause prolonged effects.  One such effect is hearing loss, profound hearing loss.  Meningitis is a dangerous infection because the brain is so delicate.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, membranes that surround the brain. This can extend as far as infecting the cerebral spinal fluid on top of causing the tissue to swell. Meningitis comes in two major forms; bacterially and virally. However, having bacterial meningitis is much more severe than viral meningitis. There is a lot more danger in having a bacterial infection within the brain than a viral infection within the brain. What makes bacterial meningitis so lethal is that “even when the disease is diagnosed early and adequate treatment is started, 5% to 10% of patients die, typically within 24 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms. Left untreated, up to 50% of cases may die, (6) or there

Meningococcal Meningitis is a serious illness that infects the thin lining, which encircles the spinal cord and brain. It could also affect the bloodstream (bacteremia or septicemia). It is a bacterial form of meningitis that spreads through transmission of respiratory droplets, such as coughing, sneezing, spiting, and kissing. This could only affect humans as no animal has been reported of the condition. The bacteria can be carried through the throat at certain situations.

Many people don’t know this but there's more than one type of meningitis. There's actually 5; bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal and non-infectious and each of these are classified by the cause of the disease. Even though they are different types of meningitis, all 5 of these types are life threatening and as most people know, what this disease is, is inflammation of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Although meningitis is mostly caused by a bacteria or a virus, it can also be caused by an injury,illness and medications.

Meningitis occurs from microbes binding to nasopharyneal cells in an individual and then cross the mucosal barrier

Most common signs and symptoms are sudden fever, vomiting, nausea, and confusion. Ordinarily, bacterial meningitis ' symptoms are more severe than viral and fungal meningitis. It has different signs and symptoms in adults and children. In almost all cases, bacterial meningitis signs in adults are stiffness of the neck and severe headache. In children, symptoms include high fever, nausea, and loss of appetite. As mentioned earlier, bacterial meningitis is the most severe type of meningitis among other types, and if left untreated it has long lasting effects which are the worst case scenario. Untreated bacterial meningitis can lead to the paralysis, since it is affecting the cerebrospinal cord; brain damage, since the brain is one of the main organs that bacteria attack first, also it causes blindness. In case of paralysis, there is an inability to move muscles in the face or other nerve signs.