Meningitis is an acute infectious disease of an inflammatory nature, in which the membranes of the brain and spinal cord are affected.
The disease occurs due to infection of the body with a fungal infection, a virus or some bacteria( tuberculosis, meningococcal, hemophilic).Inflammation can progress in people of any age. More vulnerable people with weak immunity, having head injuries, back, with CNS disorders and premature babies.
With timely medication, the disease will not affect the internal organs of the infected. Otherwise, the consequences of meningitis lead to serious, sometimes irreversible lesions. Usually, the transferred disease develops permanent immunity and excludes re-infection, but irreparable moments occur, due to which a person recovers.
Meningitis Species
The most common types of the considered disease are presented in the following list:
- Meningococcal - the causative agent is a person, manifested by vomiting, headache, high fever.
- Secondary purulent meningitis - the cause of the disease consists in the resulting craniocerebral trauma, the surgical operation suffered, due to reduced immunity. Symptoms - chills, fever, a sharp deterioration of health.
- Protozoal - the causative agent is an intracellular parasite, often carried by cats. It manifests itself in pains in muscles and joints, spotted rash, vomiting, headache, periodic fever, enlarged lymph nodes.
- Serous - it can be infected through water, dirty vegetables, unwashed hands, cooked food. With the accumulation of people can be transmitted through the air. Symptoms - lack of appetite, fever, weakness.
After finding out the listed symptoms, immediately call an ambulance team. If you suspect a meningitis immediately go to the hospital, the loss of only a few hours is dangerous in this case.
What is the Danger of
Disease Meningitis is a dangerous inflammatory disease, which we learned to cure only 50 years ago. All its types are dangerous because the defeat carries a real threat to the life of the patient and a greater likelihood of complications. Cowarene that in the early stages, when the patient already carries the infection, it is impossible to detect it.
In addition, it is very contagious and is transmitted through the hands, dishes, at the risk of infecting a large number of people in this way.
Therefore, all patients with a high temperature, with the presence of a rash of purple and a headache radiating to the back of the neck and neck, immediately sent to an infectious disease hospital and examined for the presence of the disease, including taking a puncture of cerebrospinal fluid from the spine in the lumbar region. You can not engage in self-treatment - meningitis can be cured in the early stages only in a hospital.
Consequences and complications of
The consequences of meningitis are severe and less severe, including mild headaches, muscle cramps, disorders and 
memory dips, which are complications of a mild illness.
If meningitis is severe, then there is a chance of losing sight or hearing, epilepsy, paralysis, hydrocephalus, and other pathologies can occur, leading to impairments in brain function and mental retardation. True, such consequences are very rare - with untimely treatment of the disease.
In severe cases, the patient may fall into a coma, there may be swelling of the brain causing death, but this is extremely rare. Similar complications occur only in 1-2% of cases.
The whole matter in the causative agent of the disease
Complications of meningitis directly depend on the type of disease:
- Meningococcal infection of occurs in severe form, so complications after it happen almost always and persecute the patient all his life. There is an infection-toxic shock, acute adrenal insufficiency, myocardial infarction, cerebral edema, decreased intelligence and deafness. In the absence of treatment, the probability of death is almost 100% of cases.
- Secondary purulent meningitis is dangerous because cerebral edema can occur in the early days of the disease, and if the form is lightning-fast in the first hours, severe consequences include hydrocephalus, deafness, dementia, epilepsy. To the number of easy consequences: headache, fatigue, tearfulness, irritability, absent-mindedness and unstable attention.
- Protozoal meningitis is complicated by the defeat of some internal organs, deafness, the nervous system is damaged, epilepsy develops, mental deterioration is noted.
- Serous meningitis is dangerous for complications in the form of blindness, deafness, speech disorders and brain functions, mental retardation. Very rarely, paralysis develops, coma and death occur.
All complications develop after delayed treatment or incorrect therapy. Usually heavy consequences after the disease of meningitis does not occur or are extremely rare.
What is the danger for children
Complications in children who have had meningitis occur in almost half the cases. It depends on the severity of the disease, the age of the baby and the ability of his body to resist the disease. Over the years, these consequences have persecuted patients.
In a mild disease, patients complain of poor memory, involuntary muscle contraction and minor pain. In the case of severe disease, the complication may be loss of vision or hearing.
The list of lesions also contains:
- sleep disorder;
- speech disorders;
- hydrocephalus;
- paralysis;
- affection of internal organs;
- kidney failure.
Some children experience difficulty with mental work, epilepsy and brain function impairment. These consequences are very rare if the treatment was not performed immediately or correctly. At negligent attitude to the disease, the child may suffer a fatal outcome.
The risk of meningitis for newborns
Meningitis, newborn infants suffer very rarely - 0.02-0.2% of cases. It is important for parents to recognize the disease in time and call an ambulance. A small child can not say that it hurts, so adults should pay attention to all the abnormal factors.
To clog the alarm, it is enough to detect such signs as:
- high temperature;
- chills;
- involuntary twitching of the muscles;
- increase in size and fibrillation of the fontanelle;
- diarrhea;
- nausea and severe vomiting;
- refusal to eat;
- weakness.
Disease for newborns is also dangerous because the consequences for most cases are unfavorable. Even if the treatment is carried out in a timely and correct manner, then within two years there is a danger of an abscess of the brain - during this period the baby should be regularly examined.
The consequences of meningitis also include disorders in the nervous system, deafness and mental retardation.
Manifestation of consequences of meningitis transferred to childhood
Meningitis transferred in childhood usually passes without a trace, if the treatment was timely, and the disease was mild. But a small percentage of those who have recovered have complained of bad memory, frequent headaches, dizziness, inattention, poor state of health due to sudden weather changes and overwork.
In rare cases, there is dementia - a person can not concentrate - it affects learning and work. All the consequences of meningitis require immediate treatment, which is carried out for a long time.
Some kinds of meningitis are given vaccinations to young children. Preventive maintenance of disease is spent in places of outbreaks of epidemic. This prevents infection by a large number of people, especially young children. The disease is easier to prevent than to perform long-term treatment and rehabilitation after recovery.
