Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person’s spinal cord and fluid that surrounds a person’s brain. It is sometimes referred to as Spinal Meningitis. It’s usually caused by either a bacterial or viral infection. As you read through this paper you will learn how Meningitis is transmitted, its symptoms, its effects, and even the incidences it has caused. The common symptoms of anyone over two years old is high fever, headache, and stiff neck. Symptoms can develop over several hours or even one to two days.
Other symptoms include vomiting, nausea, confusion, sleepiness, and discomfort looking at bright lights. As for newborns and small infants, the classical symptoms may be difficult to detect or absent. They may only appear slow or inactive, or be irritable, have vomiting, or be feeding poorly. Seizures occur, as the disease progresses, to patients of any age. (Centers for Disease Control, CDC} 2004) Some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. They are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions.
The spread of the disease is facilitated by close and prolonged contact. (CDC, 2004) For example: kissing someone, coughing or sneezing on a person, living in close quarters, and sharing eating or drinking utensils. The incubation period is on an average of four days, ranging from two to ten days. (World Health Organization, WHO} 2004) Five to ten percent of patients die, even when the disease is diagnosed early and adequate therapy is instituted. Typically within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of onset of symptoms. Ten to fifteen percent of cases are fatal.
Ten to fifteen percent of patients who recover have permanent hearing loss, mental retardation, loss of limbs, brain damage, or learning disability in ten to twenty percent of survivors. (WHO, 2004) The groups at risk for this disease include the general population, infants and young children, refugees, household contacts of case patients, military recruits, college freshmen who live in dormitories, people exposed to firsthand and secondhand smoke, and microbiologists who work with isolates of Neisseria Meningitidis. (CDC, 2004)
In 1887, the causative agent Neisseria Meningitidis, the meningococcus, was identified. Because of its potential to cause epidemics, Neisseria Meningitidis is one of the most important types. In 1805, when Meningococcal disease was first described, an outbreak swept through Geneva, Switzerland. Twelve subtypes of Neisseria Meningitidis have been identified. Four of them have been recognized to cause epidemics. Those four are: A, B, C, and W135. The capabilities differ of the pathogenicity, immunogenicity, and epidemic according to the serogroup.
Thus it is crucial to the identification of the serogroup responsible for epidemic containment. (WHO, 2004) The diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis is suspected by the clinical presentation and a lumbar puncture showing a purulent spinal fluid. Sometimes the bacteria can be seen in the spinal fluid by microscopic examination. Identification of the serogroups as well as testing for susceptibility to antibiotics require more specialized laboratory tests. By growing the bacteria from specimens of spinal fluid or blood, the diagnosis can be confirmed. (WHO, 2004)
Meningitis occurs sporadically in small clusters throughout the world with seasonal variations and accounts for a variable proportion of endemic meningitis. Serogroups B and C together account for a large majority of cases in Europe and the Americas. In 1992-93, Canada and the U. S. reported several local outbreaks of serogroup C. Also in 1995-97, Spain reported the same kind of outbreaks. For ten years in New Zealand, meningitis activity has particularly increased. An average of about 500 cases occurs every year there. Serogroup B causes most of these cases. WHO, 2004) 213,658 cases with 21,830 deaths were reported in West African countries during 1996-1997.
Up to two percent are in epidemics in Africa. Devastating epidemics continue to occur in countries throughout the meningitis belt of Africa due to the emergence of a new serogroup. The best way to avoid epidemics are to establish surveillance and early detection, followed by mass emergency vaccination campaigns. Surveillance is conducted worldwide through International Disease Notification. Also in the United States by NETSS, and NCID Emerging Infection Program’s Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs). CDC, 2004) 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 should reduce the risk of dying from meningitis to below fifteen percent, although the risk is much higher among the elderly. (CDC, 2004) My opinion on this is Spinal Meningitis is not only dangerous and life threatening, but also heartbreaking. To see the ones you know and love change so drastically from this disease, it will change the way you think about other people with this disease.
