1. Bacteria and Viruses Promote Meningitis
Meningitis, the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, can affect anyone, although the most at-risk group is children under five years old. Meningitis can cause death in a relatively healthy person within a few hours of infection. It is the result of a bacterial or viral infection and may rarely be due to a fungal infection. Viral meningitis is usually not life-threatening and patients often make a full recovery. In some cases, the symptoms are so mild and mimic those of general illness that the patient doesn't even realize she has meningitis. Bacterial meningitis, on the other hand, is a more serious condition. As many as 50 bacteria can cause meningitis, including E. coli and Listeria. Some of these bacteria may cultivate in the back of your throat or nose at any given time. However, those bacteria usually remain harmless even when passed from person to person due to the person's natural immune defense mechanism.
2. Symptoms can Vary
The symptoms of meningitis are many and not everyone will develop the same symptoms. They include fever and vomiting, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light and confusion. The more serious warning signs are lethargy, rash and seizures. Babies may develop symptoms that include a bulging soft spot on their head, extreme irritability, lack of appetite and a very rigid or lifeless body.
3. Diagnosis Getting Quicker
Correctly diagnosing a person with meningitis has up until recently been labor and time intensive. Most patients were spending up to three days in the hospital while waiting for bacterial cultures to return from the lab. Doctors have established a new set of guidelines that are much faster, including routine blood and fluid tests as well as patient surverys. These new tests will help doctors better distinguish those patients with bacterial meningitis from those with the less severe viral meningitis. Doctors can now treat those with viral meningitis on an out-patient basis.
4. Pre-Treat With Prevention
Doctors treat patients with bacterial meningitis using aggressive antibiotic therapy. Although there is no treatment for viral meningitis, patients usually get well with plenty of bed rest and fluids. Over the counter pain relief and fever reducer can treat discomfort associated with viral meningitis. As a preventative measure, infants in the United States are vaccinated against one of the bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis, haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib vaccine).
5. Long Term Health Effects Include Death
If not treated quickly and effectively, bacterial meningitis can cause death or have lasting effects on a patient. A patient may feel chronically fatigued, experience headaches, be depressed, have memory loss or mood swings, have joint pain and vision and hearing problems. There are no long term effects associated with viral meningitis.
