Bacterial Meningitis
A young man was admitted to the emergency department because of sudden fever, nausea, and vomiting. He was deeply unconscious when admitted to the hospital.
He had taken care only of himself since early childhood. After his mother’s death at the age of seven years, he did not go to school anymore but stayed alone at home doing odd jobs for neighboring families for survival The neighbors never found out that a little child was living alone in that hut made up of bamboo grass until one day, while they were passing by, they saw something moving inside the house through a hole on the roof where light entered.
The alarmed neighbors broke down the door and found an 8-year-old boy lying naked with his head bleeding severely from injuries caused by falling objects. An old woman in the same village told the neighbors that she had noticed a child for about a month living alone in that house. She had seen him cleaning his head with mud and water from a nearby river every morning after which he would go into the jungle to collect firewood or do odd jobs for neighboring families.
Following intense treatment, he slowly became conscious and was able to speak coherently and gave an account of his illness: It all started when I noticed fever and headache followed by nausea and vomiting several days ago.
I thought these were common diseases so I did not pay much attention until recently when I started having severe back pain. Then one day while I was cooking rice, suddenly my left hand went numb. When this happened, I became very frightened and I fainted. After this, everything is a blur until I regain consciousness three days later.
For treatment of meningitis:
As soon as the patient’s condition improves, he should be taken to the hospital or clinic for further management because he has an increased risk of developing brain damage or death if not treated properly; then follow-up examinations are necessary to monitor clinical course and response to therapy.
The prognosis appears good if the diagnosis is made early and treatment started effectively within hours of the onset of symptoms. Even though many different antibiotics can be used in the initial stage (depending on the bacterial type), ceftriaxone sodium remains the drug of choice for all types of bacterial meningitis including pneumococcal meningitis.
Bacterial meningitis symptoms:
bacterial meningitis symptoms include stiffness of the neck, fever, headache, vomiting, and decreased alertness. It is very important to get medical attention as quickly as possible if you suspect that you or someone around might have been infected with bacterial meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is a potentially fatal condition and can be treated efficiently by early detection if the proper medication is taken on time.
All the bacterial meningitis symptoms are easy to follow:
Headache:
The meningococcal infection causes headaches in about 80% to 90% of people who develop signs and symptoms of this disease. The headache associated with bacterial meningitis can be severe. Typically it starts abruptly and may be accompanied by a high fever.
How to prevent bacterial meningitis:
There are no vaccines to prevent bacterial meningitis. You can protect yourself by learning the signs and symptoms of the disease, getting vaccinated for other types of meningococcal disease (meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitides) following good hygiene habits, living in areas where certain bacteria are common that cause this infection.
Bacterial meningitis recovery time:
The length of time it takes for bacterial meningitis symptoms to resolve depends on the person’s age, the type of bacteria involved, and how soon antibiotics are started. For most people who develop the meningococcal disease, including all types of bacterial meningitis, signs and symptoms begin to improve within 24 hours after starting antibiotic treatment.
Recovery is typically more rapid in children than adults. Meningococcal disease caused by certain serogroups (groups of bacteria) can progress rapidly; even with early diagnosis and effective treatment. This can result in serious complications or death without prompt medical care.
Symptoms may last longer if there are complications from these infections such as hearing loss or nerve damageBacterial Meningitis usually does not result in any lasting problems. The only exception is if the infection is caused by a certain bacterium, especially group B streptococcal meningitis.
Bacterial meningitis in children:
Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening infection that affects the brain and spinal cord. It can cause permanent disabilities such as hearing loss or learning problems even if it is treated successfully with antibiotics.
Bacterial meningitis in children:
The good news is, there are ways to help protect your baby from serious diseases during those first few months:
1) Breastfeed your baby whenever possible for at least six months. Your milk has special ingredients that help protect your baby against infections. Doctors have found that breastfeeding can reduce a baby’s risk of contracting pneumonia by up to 40%. If you need to feed your baby expressed breast milk or formula, bottle-feeding should be done in a way that doesn’t allow the milk to become too warm, or for too long.
2) Keep your baby away from people with infectious diseases, especially if they are sick. If you take care of an older person who has a problem with their lungs, heart, or kidneys, or who gets IV antibiotics, then there’s a chance that germs in their body could infect your baby. Staying away from them minimizes the risk.
3) Keep your hands clean. Wash them before touching your face and wash thoroughly after handling diapers, even if you use disposable ones. Dirty diapers have germs hiding inside so wash them often enough to keep odors under control. You also need to keep toys clean by washing them every day with hot soapy water. Throw out any toy that’s cracked or broken to keep germs from getting into the cracks.
Bacterial meningitis vaccine:
Bacterial meningitis is the most common type of bacterial meningitis and typically causes a sudden, severe headache. The bacterium that causes this infection can also cause bloodstream infections. Many different types of bacteria can cause meningitis, but bacterial meningitis is different from viral meningitis.
People should get vaccinated against pneumococcal disease (Streptococcus pneumoniae.) before age 65 for maximum protection Vaccination after 65 increases effectiveness in preventing invasive pneumococcal diseases, such as bacteremia or meningitis.
Pneumococcal vaccines are strongly recommended to children ages 2 through 18 years who have not been fully immunized with a pneumococcal conjugate.
vaccine for bacterial meningitis:
There are two vaccines recommended for people with risk factors. They are given in a series over six months. If you have not been vaccinated, talk to your doctor about getting one.
The current vaccine is called PCV13 (Prevnar 13) and it protects against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria. About 80% of cases of pneumococcal disease are caused by these 13 strains, so the vaccine can help prevent most cases of this common infection.