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. It is said that the symptoms for each type of meningitis are similar, but there is differences for each. The severity and treatments of the disease basically lets doctors know what medication …show more content…
especially during late spring to fall when these viruses are spread most often, usually, only a small number of people who get infected with enteroviruses will develop meningitis. Besides non-polio enteroviruses, other viruses that can cause meningitis are; mumps virus, herpes virus, measles virus, influenzae virus, West Nile virus and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Anybody at any age can contract viral meningitis, although some people have a higher risk such as children under 5 years and people with weakened immune system. Viral meningitis is spread if you have close contact with a person who is infected with the disease you may become infected with the virus that made the person sick. Usually only a small number of people who get infected with the different viruses that cause meningitis will actually develop viral meningitis .
This type of meningitis has different symptoms for different age groups. In babies the symptoms are; fever, irritability, poor eating, sleepiness or have trouble waking up from sleep and lethargy. For adults, the symptoms are; fever, headaches, stiff neck, sensitivity to bright light, sleepiness, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite and lethargy.
Initial symptoms of viral meningitis are very similar to those for bacterial meningitis. Although the symptoms are similar, bacterial meningitis is more severe and causes severe
Common complications of meningitis include hearing loss, seizures, pneumonia, and more serious complications involve the cranial nerves, which would include facial weakness and blindness. It is recommended that patients with meningitis have a 30-degree head elevation of their beds. CT scan is a good way to assess the patient’s symptoms to rule out skull fractures or congenital abnormalities. Most of the complications contribute to parenchymal damage and increased intracranial pressure. As these patient’s bodies try to fight the infection, seizures can be a result. Fluid cannot be drained properly which increase sodium levels in the brain. Seizures can be managed with anticonvulsant and benzodiazepine medications as well as proper fluid management through intravenous management. Hearing loss results in the damage of some of the nerve endings in the cochlea of the ear. The first 48 hours are critical in detecting and reversing hearing loss in patients. Another complication is facial weakness and blindness, which is the outcome of inflammation of the meninges, which can affect the cranial nerves. These nerves supply the head and neck with their blood supply so when that is affected, the resulting nerve is
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.
Bacterial meningitis is the swelling of the meninges. In the back of the brain, there are three protective membranes called the meninges (Mandal). During bacterial meningitis, bacteria invade the brain. This causes the immune system to enter and try to stop the disease (Mandal). In doing so, the meninges swell to stop the spread the virus, but this unfortunately causes damage to the brain and spinal area (Mandal). A person would get bacterial meningitis if their body was invaded by some of the germs that can cause it.
Meningococcal disease is a disease that can be found worldwide. Meningococcal disease refers to any disease or illness that is caused by the type of bacteria called Neisseria meningitides, also called meningococcus (Meningococcal disease, 2015). The first documented outbreak was over two hundred years ago in Geneva in 1805 which circulated rapidly and killed thirty three people. The first case ever recorded in America was in 1806 in Medford, Massachusetts (Fredericks, n.d.). A European physician, Professor A Weichselbaum, discovered the cause of the mysterious cerebro-spinal meningitis illness in 1887 and Penicillin was the first antibiotic used to fight the disease. In 1978 the first
Neisseria meningitidis is a fastidious, aerobic, and encapsulated gram-negative diplococcus which infects humans via droplet transmission to and from mucosal surfaces in the nasopharyngeal region. Only humans can be infected with N. meningitidis and the disease manifests in children under two years of age and in young adults. N. meningitidis can be found as normal regional flora of the nasopharynx in some individuals, but when it causes infection leads to meningitis and occasionally septicaemia. The major symptoms of N. meningitidis infection include a stiff neck, high fever, photophobia, confusion, cephalgia and emesis. If the patient’s condition has worsened causing sepsis, they can present with a haemorrhagic rash which is indicative of
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 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).
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
Everyone is at risk of getting bacterial meningitis as it is an infectious disease, especially babies, due to their developing immune systems.35 Bacterial meningitis is more severe in children who also have similar symptoms such as fevers, and feel fretful and often anorectic (loss of appetite).36 These symptoms occur because of the change in behaviour. Thus, more care would be needed to be given the child with this disease as they cannot always take the same medications as adults, especially in large doses.37 The risks of getting bacterial meningitis are dependent on the seriousness of this infection; the more serious this infection is, the more likely it can cause negative adverse effects on the individuals, especially death.38
Meningitis occurs when the meninges (a thin lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) shows inflammation (swelling). The meninges consist of three layers. They are the dura, arachnoid, and pia. The inflammation is caused by an infection that has penetrated the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. When this occurs the brain is now venerable to attack by bacteria, viruses, and others. As a result of these attack, the brain could have sustained damage which cannot be repaired. The inflammation in an enclosed space such as inside the skull or spinal also damages or kills healthy cells. There are five different types of meningitis. Those five types are viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and non-infectious. Viral and bacterial are the two most common type of meningitis. This paper is about one type of bacterial meningitis called meningococcal meningitis. Meningococcal meningitis is caused by a Neisseria meningitides also called meningococcus, which is a bacterium. Meningococcal meningitis is terminal if left untreated it can cause severe brain damage and about half of the time death would occur but with proper treatment potential and severe complications or even death could still be the outcome. Analyzing the etiology, transmission, symptoms, diagnosing, treatment, and prevention of meningococcal meningitis.
Meningitis-Meningitis, often known as spinal meningitis, is an infection of the spinal cord. It is usually the result of a viral or bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis is more severe than viral meningitis and may cause brain damage, hearing loss, and learning disabilities. Symptoms include severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, lethargy, delirium, photophobia, and a stiff neck.
Meningitis symptoms typically begin suddenly and progress rapidly, within 24 hours. In adults and elderly patients, bacterial meningitis symptoms may include the following:
Even one drop of nasal fluid can be enough to make another person ill if the drop of fluid makes contact. This disease is easily spread through direct and indirect contact, whether it is through kissing or sharing eating utensils. The easiest way to protect against meningitis is to stay away from infected people and not to share utensils or other personal objects with other people. Also, good hygiene is extremely