About the hidden disease .. meningitis, its types, symptoms

Meningitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the mucous membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, caused by a bacterial or viral infection.

Bacterial meningitis:

Prognosis: There is a good chance of recovery without any collateral damage, and the odds of complete recovery, according to medical research, have been estimated at 90%, provided that treatment is carried out at an early stage. The factors that can affect the chances of recovery are mainly the ill health of the patient, a delay in starting treatment, or a germ of a more aggressive strain than usual.

Aseptic meningitis:

Researchers have not yet succeeded in identifying the cause of this type of inflammation, in their attempts to raise it in culture, after taking a sample of body fluids - from here, the name was inspired (but there are other methods that help determine the cause of inflammation).

Most likely, the cause is a viral infection (in this case, the infection is caused by the virus), but in a small number of cases, another cause of infection, such as parasites, is talked about.

Viral meningitis (inflammation of the membranes is caused by a virus):

The viruses most commonly used to cause meningitis are enteroviruses. Other common viral causes are arbovirus, oral herpes simplex type 2 and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Infections caused by enteroviruses and arthropod viruses are seasonal, and their prevalence increases significantly in the summer.

Prognosis: The course of the disease is benign, the fever and headache subside within about a week, and with the exception of some rare cases, recovery is complete in the majority of cases.

Symptoms of meningitis

Symptoms of meningitis The most common sign on examination is difficulty moving the neck
(The term “meningeal symptoms” means the phenomena that the patient feels and describes, while the term “sign” means the things the doctor notices during the examination.) Symptoms of meningitis that may appear: headache, photophobia; The following signs appear: Fever, stiffness when moving the neck in the anterior-posterior plane (this sign may not appear in children and the elderly).

Possible additional manifestations of the disease: Change in the degree of consciousness, nausea and vomiting, seizures (seizure), cranial neuropathy, and the following additional signs may appear in infants and children: Excessive irritability, restlessness and disturbance in eating habits.

Signs and symptoms of aseptic meningitis: Common symptoms are headache, nausea, general weakness, and the most common sign on examination is difficulty moving the neck (stiff torso). The disease picture is often less borrowed than the distinct picture of bacterial meningitis.

Causes and risk factors for meningitis

The most common anti-inflammatory are pneumococci - responsible for about half of cases, and are considered to be the cause of the largest proportion of deaths), meningococci - which sometimes appear as a diffuse rash, consisting of prominent purple dots), and (Hemofilus - rates of infection with this bacterium have been steadily declining since vaccination became acceptable, and even recommended for children). Infections with these three germs account for 80% of all cases of bacterial infections.

The people most at risk of contracting the disease are the group of people infected with an active contaminated site, such as inner ear infection, sinusitis in the face (Sinusitis), pneumonia and endocarditis;
Additional risk factors include: cirrhosis, alcoholism, malignant blood cell disease, immune system disruption, and a head injury that caused the leakage of cerebrospinal fluid near the time of infection.
The least common pathogens are Streptococcus B. Most people infected with this bacterium are children under one month old, Listeria, which causes the disease in the middle of newborns and the elderly, Staphylococcus, caused infection in the middle of people with penetrating injuries to the head or among people who have undergone an invasive medical operation for the head.

meningitis treatment

It is followed immediately to treat early meningitis with antibiotics, given the dangerous nature of the disease, often immediately after the lumbar puncture (after the puncture rather than before it to prevent masking, as the treatment causes a rapid change in the cerebrospinal fluid values, and then it is difficult to accurately determine of the disease and the pathogen) and before determining the identity of the pathogen. The antibiotic used for treatment is ceftriaxone, which is given by intravenous infusion, at a dose of 4 grams per day. Another common treatment is cefotaxime by intravenous infusion of 12 grams per day.

For children and the elderly, penicillin is usually added by intravenous infusion, at a dose of 12 grams per day. Vancomycin is added at a dose of 2 grams per day, in cases of inflammation following a head injury or following invasive medical procedures on the head.

Recently, it was discovered that the addition of a corticosteroid of the type Dexamethasone decreases the mortality rate and the risk of permanent disability among adults with emphysema of brain tissue, with elevated intracranial pressure, and with a raging disease process. (Treatment with corticosteroid-type dexamethasone was only commonly used among children, until not long ago, and it was found to contribute significantly to reducing the complication rate, in particular, dehydration in patients who were caused by Haemophilus influenzae. As mentioned earlier, it has been approved for use in adults Also). Determining the pathogen and estimating its sensitivity to different drugs enables the continuity of treatment with the optimal drug.

Treatment of aseptic meningitis: Treatment is often supportive (such as treatment with pain relievers and intravenous fluids) and appropriate to the patient's symptoms.