Related concepts:

Spinal meningitis, Bacterial meningitis

Introduction to meningitis:

Bacterial meningitis is one of the most dangerous infections in children. Meningitis can be swift and deadly. It can also lead to chronic disability. The fear of meningitis often haunts parents. Thankfully, most cases of bacterial meningitis can now be prevented.

What is meningitis?

Meningitis is primarily an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, and sometimes of the brain itself. Encephalitis is an inflammation primarily of the brain.

Most of the time, the inflammation is caused by viral infections. Most of these are usually not very serious, except in very young babies. Rarely, the inflammation is caused by fungal or parasitic infections.

Sometimes, though, meningitis is caused by a bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis is the serious illness that people dread. Together, three types of bacteria account for over 90 percent of bacterial meningitis: H. influenza type b, meningococcus, and pneumococcus. These bacteria are transmitted by person-to-person contact through respiratory secretions. Many people carry these bacteria with no serious consequence (pneumococcus, for instance, is the most common cause of ear infections) but a few get very sick (pneumococcus causes meningitis in about 3 per 100,000 people).

In children under 2 months old, Group B strep is a common cause of bacterial meningitis.

Who gets meningitis?

Bacterial meningitis can occur at any age, but 95 percent of cases are in children under 5 years old. Boys are more likely to get it than girls.

Babies are at the highest risk. It is also more common in children with an underlying illness, such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, or diabetes, or in children with a weakened immune system

What are the symptoms of meningitis?

Bacterial meningitis strikes in two common ways.

Sudden onset meningitis features shock, internal bleeding, purple spots, and reduced consciousness at the very outset, with a rapidly progressive course often resulting in death within 24 hours.

More commonly, meningitis begins with several days of upper respiratory symptoms or gastrointestinal symptoms. It often begins with an ear infection. Most children develop high fevers, severe headaches, and poor feeding. They may also have muscle aches, nasal congestion, vomiting, neck stiffness, and seizures. Children with meningitis become increasingly irritable and/or lethargic. The presence of petechiae (purple spots that indicate internal bleeding) is a sign that the infection may be raging out of control.

Is meningitis contagious?

Meningitis can be quite contagious, depending on the organism causing the infection. Alert your pediatrician immediately if you think your child may have been exposed.