Meningococcal disease

Introduction: Meningococcal disease

Meningococcal disease is not only meningitis, but actually includes several types of disease, all caused by the Neisseria meningitidis or just "meningococcus" bacteria. Recent attention to meningococcal disease has arisen due to several epidemics in college students or school age children. Despite this media attention the age group 15-24 is actually only the second most at-risk group, with the highest incidence rates in infants less than a year old. Also significantly at risk are any children under 5 years.

Symptoms of Meningococcal disease

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

See full list of 57 symptoms of Meningococcal disease

Medical Textbooks Online about Meningococcal disease

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

Diagnostic Tests for Meningococcal disease

• Lumbar puncture (spinal tap)
• Blood tests for bacteria
• Rash pressure test - pressing the rash to see if it whitens.

Read more about tests for Meningococcal disease

Wrongly Diagnosed with Meningococcal disease?

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

Misdiagnosis and Meningococcal disease

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Read more about Misdiagnosis and Meningococcal disease

Causes of Meningococcal disease

Read more about causes of Meningococcal disease.

More information about causes of Meningococcal disease:

• Meningococcal disease as a complication caused by other conditions
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Meningococcal disease

Treatments for Meningococcal disease

• Emergency hospitalization - many cases require urgent emergency treatment.
• Antibiotics
  • Penicillin
  • Penicillin G
  • Ampicillin

See full list of 8 treatments for Meningococcal disease

Videos for Meningococcal disease

Patient Surveys for Meningococcal disease

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Meningococcal disease
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Prognosis for Meningococcal disease

More about prognosis of Meningococcal disease

Reseach about Meningococcal disease

Visit our research pages for current research about Meningococcal disease treatments.

Clinical Trials for Meningococcal disease

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 Meningococcal disease include:

• Study of NeisVac-C Vaccine to Evaluate Immunological Interference With Hepatitis B, Inactivated Polio and Acellular Pertussis Vaccines in Healthy Infants - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Study of Menactra in Children Aged 4 to 6 Years When Administered Concomitantly With a Fifth Dose of DAPTACEL - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• A Study of 2 Doses of Menactra, a Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Healthy Toddlers - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Study in Children to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of 4 Formulations of GSK Bio MenACWY-TT Conjugate Vaccine - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• 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)

See full list of 22 Clinical Trials for Meningococcal disease

Prevention of Meningococcal disease

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

• Polysaccharide meningococcal vaccine - protects against 4 strains: A, C, Y, and W135.
• Conjugate meningococcal C vaccine - a newer vaccine that works for infants but only against subtype C.
• Avoid sharing saliva
  • Avoid sharing food or drink
  • Avoid sharing cigarrettes

Read more about prevention of Meningococcal disease

Statistics for Meningococcal disease

• Medical statistics for Meningococcal disease
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Meningococcal disease
• Death and Mortality statistics for Meningococcal disease
• Society statistics for Meningococcal disease

Types of Meningococcal disease

• Subtypes by body part attacked:
  • Meningococcal septicemia - blood poisoning from the bacteria
  • Meningococcemia - a mild form of blood poisoning not as severe as septicemia
• Subtypes based on serogroup:
  • Meningococcus A - most common in Africa; causes epidemics.

See full list of 11 Types of Meningococcal disease

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Meningococcal disease, 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.

Definitions of Meningococcal disease:

A species of gram-negative, aerobic BACTERIA. It is a commensal and pathogen only of humans, and can be carried asymptomatically in the NASOPHARYNX. When found in cerebrospinal fluid it is the causative agent of cerebrospinal meningitis (MENINGITIS, MENINGOCOCCAL). It is also found in venereal discharges and blood. There are at least 13 serogroups based on antigenic differences in the capsular polysaccharides; the ones causing most meningitis infections being A, B, C, Y, and W-135. Each serogroup can be further classified by serotype, serosubtype, and immunotype. - (Source - Diseases Database)

Meningococcal disease is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Meningococcal disease, or a subtype of Meningococcal disease, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Meningococcal disease as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet