What is meningitis, causes and how to recognize it

What is meningitis? What are the causes that trigger it? Are there specific symptoms that allow meningitis to be recognized in time?

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Meningitis e causes. It is often talked about a lot but few know how to answer these questions: the meningite cos'è? What are the causes that trigger it? There are specific symptoms that allow you to recognize meningitis in time?

As the word says, the meningitis is inflammation of the meninges, that is, of those membranes that line the brain and spinal cord. Battery o virus are among the main causes, but meningitis can also be caused by certain types of drugs or certain diseases.

La viral meningitisThe "aseptic meningitis", Is the more common and less severe form, so much so that it is often not even diagnosed because it has symptoms similar to those of a normal flu. There bacterial meningitis, on the other hand, it is the rare form, in most cases even very serious so, if it is not treated immediately, it can even be fatal.

Index

The causes of meningitis

caused by viruses, therefore, they are the most frequent infections, but also the least dangerous. There viral or aseptic meningitis it can be caused by some types of cancer, by some diseases such as tuberculosis, by infections near the brain or spinal cord such as epidural abscesses, by some types of fungi, by some drugs, such as antibiotics or anti-inflammatory painkillers, and by diseases transmitted by ticks (such as Lyme disease).

The viruses that trigger aseptic meningitis are about half the virus Coxsackie e echovirus, of the enterovirus family, which are transmitted by hand, mouth and cough contact, or even by contact with fecal matter. But other viruses also cause aseptic meningitis: among them chicken pox, herpes type 1 (herpes simplex or cold sores) and type 2 (genital herpes), HIV, mumps, rabies, the West Nile Virus and other enteroviruses.



as to bacterial meningitis, the bacteria most frequently involved in its onset are the meningococcus, in particular its serogroups A, B, C, W 135 and Y, and the pneumococcus. In the first case, transmission occurs through the respiratory tract and in 10-20% of cases the disease has a fulminant course and can lead to death in a few hours. In the second case, the bacterium reaches the brain through the bloodstream from other parts of the body and, in addition to bacterial meningitis, can cause pneumonia and upper respiratory tract infections. Then there is the type B haemophilic meningitis (Hib) which until the 90s was widespread in children under 5 years of age. But now almost the entire population has developed immune defenses against this type of bacterium.

Among the risk factors of aseptic meningitis is an already compromised immune system, exposure to children in a daycare center, and exposure to someone with a recent viral infection. Among the risk factors of bacterial meningitis are age (the disease mainly affects children under the age of 5, young people between 18 and 24 years and the elderly), community life (students in university dormitories , military in the barracks), smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke and other upper respiratory tract infections. Pregnancy is also one of the risk situations, since pregnant women are more prone than others to listeriosis, which in turn can degenerate into meningitis.

Symptoms of meningitis

Among the most frequent are:

headache
fever
lethargy
irritability
sensitivity of the eyes to light
stiffness in the nape
rashes and seizures


in Infants, the symptoms are not as obvious, but they may cry constantly, be very irritable, have above-average sleepiness and poor appetite. Sometimes there may be an enlargement of the head, especially in the places of the so-called fontanelles. Contacting the pediatrician immediately is the first thing to do.


Il incubation time it can vary depending on the cause of the infection: viral meningitis varies from three to six days, bacterial meningitis from 3 to 10 days. Finally, meningitis is usually contagious in the acute phase.

What to do in case of meningitis and in case of contact with an affected person

To confirm the diagnosis of meningitis will be the esami of the blood and l'esame of the cerebrospinal fluid, which is taken through a lumbar puncture. Despite some advances in the medical field, still today 10-15% of those affected by meningitis die, while 20-30% have serious and disabling consequences (amputations, brain damage, deafness, epilepsy, paralysis, neuropsychomotor retardation - Source Ospedale Bambin Jesus).

In case of "close and prolonged" contact with someone with meningitis, the earlier the treatment, the more likely it is to be effective and the infection to regress without success. In any case, antibiotic therapy must be practiced on specific medical prescription for the type of germ responsible.

Finally, there is to say that vaccination remains the only available way to prevent bacterial meningitis for now. For each family of the main responsible bacteria there are vaccines:

- for theHaemophilus influenzae type B, the vaccine is found in the hexavalent vaccine the first dose of which is administered as early as the 61st day of life (at 3 months)
- for it pneumococcus a vaccine is available that protects against 13 different Pneumococcal strains (also viable from the first months of life)
- for the Meningococcal there is a vaccine against Meningococcus C, one against Meningococcus B and one capable of protecting against 4 different strains (A, C, Y, W 135).

Germana Carillo

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