Meningitis

Introduction: Meningitis

Meningitis: Meningitis is a serious infection of one of the membranes that surrounds the brain. This section addresses what conditions meningitis can be a symptom or ... more about Meningitis.

Meningitis: Meningitis is an infection of the membranes (called meninges) that surround the brain and spinal cord. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Encephalitis and Meningitis Information Page: NINDS) ... more about Meningitis.

Meningitis: Dangerous infection of the membranes surrounding the brain. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Meningitis is available below.

Symptoms of Meningitis

• Symptoms of meningitis:
  • High fever
  • Severe headache
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

See full list of 49 symptoms of Meningitis

Medical Textbooks Online about Meningitis

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Meningitis

• Lumbar puncture (spinal tap)
• CSF culture
• Blood culture - Blood tests for bacteria
• Meningococcal rash pressure test - test a skin rash for the "failure to whiten under pressure" property of a meningococcal rash.

Read more about tests for Meningitis

Wrongly Diagnosed with Meningitis?

• Misdiagnosis of Meningitis
• Failure to diagnose Meningitis
• Underlying causes of Meningitis (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Meningitis

Misdiagnosis and Meningitis

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered from sudden inability to speak. This was initially misdiagnosed as a ...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions...read more »

Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms of severe brain injury are hard to miss, it is less clear for milder injuries, or even those causing a mild concussion diagnosis. The condition goes by the name...read more »

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), for...read more »

Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease or ...read more »

Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return. A variety of...read more »

Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in children. See ...read more »

FUO in children: Fever of unknown origin in children is usually transient and subsides within 4- 5 days. Majority of them are of viral aetiology. The common causes of fever in children differ from that of adults. Some of the...read more »

Subarachnoid hemorrhage mimics migraine: Subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs due to spontaneous bleeding in the subarachnoid space. It presents with severe headache usually over the back, vomiting, and neck stiffness and severe cases...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Meningitis

Causes of Meningitis

• Head injury - any injury causing skull fracture increases the risk of bacterial entry to the meninges.
• Certain infections can lead to meningitis:
  • Bacteremia
  • Otitis media
  • Sinusitis

See full list of 27 causes of Meningitis

More information about causes of Meningitis:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Meningitis (3 listings)
• Underlying causes of Meningitis
• Meningitis as a complication caused by other conditions
• Meningitis as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Meningitis

Treatments for Meningitis

• Emergency hospitalization - may be required; some types are potentially deadly.
• Intravenous antibiotics - for bacterial meningitis, or if it is possible.
• Intravenous sulphonamides
• Antiviral drugs - for viral meningitis
  • Intravenous acyclovir

See full list of 10 treatments for Meningitis

Videos for Meningitis

Patient Surveys for Meningitis

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Meningitis
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Prognosis for Meningitis

Prognosis for Meningitis: Viral meningitis cases are usually self-limited to 10 days or less. Some types of meningitis can be deadly if not treated promptly. Anyone experiencing symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis should see a doctor immediately. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Encephalitis and Meningitis Information Page: NINDS) ... With early diagnosis and prompt treatment, most patients recover from meningitis. However, in some cases, the disease progresses so rapidly that death occurs during the first 48 hours, despite early treatment. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Encephalitis and Meningitis Information Page: NINDS)

More about prognosis of Meningitis

Reseach about Meningitis

Visit our research pages for current research about Meningitis treatments.

Clinical Trials for Meningitis

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Meningitis include:

• Lot-to-Lot Consistency of Tritanrix-HepB/Hib-MenAC & Its Non-Inferiority vs Tritanrix-HepB/Hiberix in Infants - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Immunogenicity and Safety of Men ACWY in Infants (6 & 12 Months) - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Immunogenicity and Safety of the Concomitant Administration of a Tdap Vaccine and Meningococcal ACWY Conjugate Vaccine in Healthy Subjects Aged 11-25 Years - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Vancomycin Concentration in Cerebrospinal Fluid During Pneumococcal Meningitis - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Assess Mycograb for Cryptococcal Meningitis - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Amphotericin B, 5FC, Mycograb

See full list of 66 Clinical Trials for Meningitis

Prevention of Meningitis

Prevention information for Meningitis has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Meningitis.

• Vaccinations - vaccines against the various bacteria causing meningitis.
  • HIB conjugate vaccine - a widely used vaccine that has greatly reduced Hib incidence.
  • Meningococcal vaccine
  • Polysaccharide meningococcal vaccine - protects against 4 meningococcal strains: A, C, Y, and W135.
  • Conjugate meningococcal C vaccine - a newer meningococcal vaccine that works for infants but only against subtype C.

Read more about prevention of Meningitis

Statistics for Meningitis

• Medical statistics for Meningitis
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Meningitis
• Death and Mortality statistics for Meningitis
• Society statistics for Meningitis

Types of Meningitis

• Viral meningitis
  • Enterovirus-caused meningitis (type of Viral meningitis)
  • Arbovirus-caused meningitis (type of Viral meningitis)
  • Measles-caused meningitis (type of Viral meningitis)
  • Mumps-caused meningitis (type of Viral meningitis)

See full list of 20 Types of Meningitis

Stories from Users Related to Meningitis

• Anyone have Arachnoiditis ??

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Meningitis, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Meningitis

NINDS Encephalitis and Meningitis Information Page: NINDS (Excerpt)

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes (called meninges) that surround the brain and spinal cord. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Encephalitis and Meningitis Information Page: NINDS)

Meningococcal Disease (General): DBMD (Excerpt)

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. People sometimes refer to it as spinal meningitis. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Knowing whether meningitis is caused by a virus or bacterium is important because the severity of illness and the treatment differ. Viral meningitis is generally less severe and resolves without specific treatment, while bacterial meningitis can be quite severe and may result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability. For bacterial meningitis, it is also important to know which type of bacteria is causing the meningitis because antibiotics can prevent some types from spreading and infecting other people. (Source: excerpt from Meningococcal Disease (General): DBMD)

Viral (Aseptic) Meningitis: DVRD (Excerpt)

Meningitis is an illness in which there is inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord.  Viral or aseptic meningitis, which is the most common type, is caused by an infection with one of several types of viruses.  Meningitis can also be caused by infections with several types of bacteria or fungi. (Source: excerpt from Viral (Aseptic) Meningitis: DVRD)

Definitions of Meningitis:

Inflammation of the arachnoid membrane and adjacent subarachnoid space. (On-line Medical Dictionary) - (Source - Diseases Database)

Infectious disease characterized by inflammation of the meninges (the tissues that surround the brain or spinal cord) usually caused by a bacterial infection; symptoms include headache and stiff neck and fever and nausea - (Source - WordNet 2.1)