What are the key manifestations of bacterial meningitis?
What are the symptoms of bacterial meningitis? You want to watch for high fever, headaches, and an inability to lower your chin to your chest due to stiffness in the neck. In older children and adults, you may see confusion, irritability, increasing drowsiness. Seizures and stroke may occur.
What does CSF look like in bacterial meningitis?
Bacterial meningitis is diagnosed by CSF examination. Typical findings are: elevated opening pressure, elevated protein and hypoglycorrhachia. The fluid appearance may be cloudy or turbid. The CSF leukocyte concentration is usually elevated with a neutrophilic pleocytosis.
What does bacterial meningitis look like?
In babies and adults, a meningitis rash may look like the following: tiny red, pink, brown, or purple pinprick marks (petechiae) on the skin. purple bruise-like marks. blotchy-appearing areas of skin.
How serious is bacterial meningitis?
Bacterial meningitis is very serious and can be deadly. Death can occur in as little as a few hours. Most people recover from meningitis. However, permanent disabilities (such as brain damage, hearing loss, and learning disabilities) can result from the infection.
How did I get bacterial meningitis?
Bacteria that enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain and spinal cord cause acute bacterial meningitis. But it can also occur when bacteria directly invade the meninges. This may be caused by an ear or sinus infection, a skull fracture, or — rarely — some surgeries.
Where is bacterial meningitis most commonly found?
Meningococcal disease occurs worldwide, with the highest incidence of disease found in the ‘meningitis belt’ of sub-Saharan Africa.
Is bacterial meningitis airborne?
Bacterial meningitis is NOT spread through casual contact or the airborne route; however, some bacteria can be spread by close contact with respiratory droplets (e.g., in daycare centers).
How is bacterial meningitis diagnosed?
How is bacterial meningitis diagnosed? To diagnose this condition, a healthcare provider will do a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to take a sample of fluid from around the spinal cord. The fluid is then tested for bacteria. The provider will also ask about your symptoms and do a physical exam.
Does bacterial meningitis need isolation?
Meningococcal meningitis patients should be placed on droplet precautions (private room, mask for all entering the room) until they have completed 24 hours of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Negative pressure ventilation is not required. Patients with pneumococcal or viral meningitis do not require isolation.
How long is bacterial meningitis treatment?
Duration of treatment and choice of antibiotic
For S pneumoniae and H influenzae, 10–14 days treatment is generally recommended while for N meningitidis a seven day course is sufficient. In Listeria monocytogenes and group B streptococcal meningitis, antibiotics should be given for 14–21 days.
Can amoxicillin treat bacterial meningitis?
in five patients, was the most common side effect of amoxicillin sodium therapy; five patients treated with ampicillin also experienced reversible neutropenia. Thus, intravenous amoxicillin sodium provided therapy for bacterial meningitis comparable to that of ampicillin in this limited case-control study.
What is the medicine of choice for bacterial meningitis?
Third-generation cephalosporins (cefotaxime or ceftriaxone) are recommended for the treatment of childhood bacterial meningitis (A-I) and for pneumococcal and meningococcal meningitis caused by penicillin-resistant strains (A-III). They are the drugs of choice for empiric therapy in the treatment of H.
Antibiotics do not help viral infections, so they are not useful in the treatment of viral meningitis. However, antibiotics do fight bacteria, so they are very important when treating bacterial meningitis.
What antibiotic is used for bacterial meningitis?
Commonly used meningitis treatments include a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins, especially Claforan (cefotaxime) and Rocephin (ceftriaxone). Various penicillin-type antibiotics, aminoglycoside drugs such as gentamicin, and others, are also used.
What is the first sign of meningitis in adults?
The first symptoms are usually fever, vomiting, headache and feeling unwell. Limb pain, pale skin, and cold hands and feet often appear earlier than the rash, neck stiffness, dislike of bright lights and confusion. Septicaemia can occur with or without meningitis.
What is meningitis? Meningitis is an infection of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meninges). Viral meningitis is an infection caused by viruses and bacterial meningitis is an infection caused by bacteria.
Meningitis caused by viruses is serious but often is less severe than bacterial meningitis. People with normal immune systems who get viral meningitis usually get better on their own. There are vaccines to prevent some kinds of viral meningitis.
What are the 5 types of meningitis?
There are actually five types of meningitis — bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal, and non-infectious — each classified by the cause of the disease.
David Nilsen is the former editor of Fourth & Sycamore. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. You can find more of his writing on his website at davidnilsenwriter.com and follow him on Twitter as @NilsenDavid.