Meningitis Symptoms
Meningitis Symptoms: A person is said to suffer from meningitis if the membrane covering the brain and spinal cord (called the meninges) inflames. The causes of this painful condition vary from person to person and from child to adult. Certain medicines are also known to cause this condition from manifesting in an otherwise healthy individual. Read about mono symptoms and mono treatment. The following are some common types:
Bacterial Meningitis
This is a rare form of this disease and is caused via bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis can not only prove debilitating for the patient (since it can cause the brain to stop functioning) but it can also prove fatal if it’s not treated quickly.
Viral Meningitis
This form of the disease is fairly common and relatively harmless. Also known as aseptic meningitis, viral meningitis remains undetectable because of its similarity to the common flu. However, the symptoms of both types can either take several hours or a few days to develop for anyone over two years of age.
Meningitis Symptoms include:
- High fever
- Nasty headaches
- Nausea followed by vomiting
- A stiff neck
- Vertigo
- Difficulty concentrating
- Lethargy
- Sensitivity to light
- Loss of appetite
- Breakout of skin rashes
Meningitis Symptoms in Newborns
Newborns have to be specifically monitored as it is. If they contract this disease, they might not have the strength to fight it off and may even succumb to it. They will not typically exhibit the classic symptoms given above. If they catch meningitis, they will show the following signs:
- Constant bouts of crying
- High fever
- Unexplainable drowsiness
- Difficulty feeding
- Seizures
- Irritability when picked up
If you or one of your loved ones exhibits the symptoms given above, you need to get them to a doctor immediately! Whatever you do, don’t scratch off even minor symptoms as influenza. You are not a trained physician thus you have no way to identify what type of meningitis they might have caught. However, if their condition improves after a few days, then there is nothing to worry about. They probably caught viral meningitis which, as mentioned above, isn’t as harmless.
What to look out for:
On the other hand, if you see an apparently healthy family member depicting the symptoms in a day, then he may be suffering from bacterial meningitis. As mentioned, this can be fatal if not treated immediately. In fact, in some severe cases, the bacteria can spread to the meninges in case the patient suffers a severe head trauma. A serious local infection (like one infecting the ear) or a nasal infection can also cause bacterial meningitis to rear its ugly head.
In the end, prevention is better than cure; if caught early, the suffering of the patient can be eased significantly. Expect lab tests to be performed by the doctor including a spinal tap or lumbar puncture if the case is allowed to get serious. This will be done to extract a sample of spinal fluid for analysis in order to ascertain the type of meningitis the patient has acquired. It will also show whether a bacteria or a virus is responsible for the infection.