Meningitis

What is meningitis and what it is dangerous by?

Meningitis is an acute infectious disease which leads to an inflammation of covers back and a brain. Mushrooms, viruses and various bacteria can provoke an infection, for example: hemophilic stick, enteroviruses, meningococcal infection, tubercular sticks. Symptoms of meningitis can be shown at any age, but people with the weakened immunity, premature children, patients with injuries of the head, back and defeats of TsNS, as a rule, get sick.

At adequate and that the most important, the treatment of meningitis in time begun, vitals and systems of the person usually do not suffer. An exception is so-called reactive meningitis which effects happen extremely heavy. If treatment of meningitis is not begun in the first days after emergence of the expressed symptoms, the patient can become deaf or go blind. Quite often the disease leads to a coma and even to a lethal outcome. As a rule, the postponed meningitis at children and adults creates immunity to operation of activators, but there are also exceptions. However, cases of a recurrent disease are extremely rare. According to specialists, the infection arises for the second time only at 0,1% of the had people.

What can be meningitis?

The disease happens primary and secondary. The first type of an infection is diagnosed if at infection a meninx is surprised at once. Secondary meningitis at adults and children is shown against the background of the main disease (leptospirosis, otitis, epidemic parotitis, etc.), develops slowly, but as a result also leads to defeat of covers of a brain.

Distinguishing character of both types of an infection is acuity of clinical disease. The disease develops within several days and demands immediate treatment for prevention of serious complications. An exception of this rule is tubercular meningitis which can not prove within several weeks and even months in any way.

Meningitis origins

The main infestant is a meningococcal infection. In most cases it is given in the airborne way. The sick person is a source of infection, and it is possible to catch an infection anywhere, since public transport and finishing policlinics. In children's collectives the activator is capable to cause the real epidemics of a disease. Let's note also that at hit of a meningococcal infection purulent meningitis usually develops in a human body. In more detail we will tell about it in one of the following sections.

Various viruses are the second most common cause of a disease. Most often the enteroviral infection leads to defeat of covers of a brain, however, the disease can develop also in the presence of a virus of herpes, measles, a mumps or a rubella.

From other factors provoking meningitis at children and adults it is possible to note:

• neck or person furuncles;
• frontal sinusitis;
• antritis;
• acute and chronic otitis;
• lung abscess;
• osteomyelitis of bones of a skull.

Reactive meningitis

Reactive meningitis - one of the most dangerous forms of an infection. Often it call fulminant because of extremely fulminating clinical picture. If medical care was provided too late, the patient fells into a coma and dies of multiple suppurative focuses in a brain. If doctors began to treat reactive meningitis within the first days, effects will be not so serious, but also they can threaten human life. At reactive meningitis timely diagnosis which is carried out by capture of a lumbar puncture has huge value.

Purulent meningitis at adults and children

Purulent meningitis is characterized by development of all-brain, all-infectious and meningeal syndromes, and also defeats of TsNS and inflammatory processes in cerebrospinal liquid. In 90% of the registered cases a disease-producing factor were infections. If at the child purulent meningitis develops, symptoms first remind usual cold or flu, but in several hours at patients characteristic symptoms of a meningeal infection are observed:

• very severe headache;
• repeated vomiting;
• confusion of consciousness;
• emergence of rash;
• nape muscle tension
• squint;
• pains in attempts to tighten the head to a breast.

In addition to above-mentioned symptoms of meningitis, some other signs also occur at children: drowsiness, spasms, diarrhea, pulsation of a big fontanel.

Treatment of meningitis

Patients with meningitis are subject to immediate hospitalization. Do not try to treat meningitis folk remedies and do not postpone at all a call of ambulance as jokes with an infection can end with disability or a lethal outcome easily.

Choice drugs at treatment of meningitis are antibiotics. Let's notice at the same time that approximately in 20% of cases it is not possible to establish a cause of illness therefore in hospitals use antibiotics of a broad spectrum of activity to influence on all probable activators. The course of an antibioticotherapia lasts not less than 10 days. This term increases in the presence of suppurative focuses in a skull.

Now meningitis at adults and children is treated by means of penicillin, a tseftriakson and a tsefotaksim. If they do not give the expected effect, then sick appoint Vancomycinum and karbapenema. They have serious side effects and are used only when there is a real risk of development of deadly complications.

If the heavy course of meningitis is observed, prescribe the patient endolumbar introduction of antibiotics at which drugs come directly to the spinal canal.