Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges.[10] The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasionally photophobia.[1]
Other symptoms include confusion or altered consciousness, nausea, and an inability to tolerate light or loud noises.[1] Young children often exhibit only nonspecific symptoms, such as irritability, drowsiness, or poor feeding.[1] A non-blanching rash (a rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it) may also be present.[11]
The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites.[12] Non-infectious causes include malignancy (cancer), subarachnoid hemorrhage, chronic inflammatory disease (sarcoidosis) and certain drugs.[4] Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore, the condition is classified as a medical emergency.[2][8] A lumbar puncture, in which a needle is inserted into the spinal canal to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), can diagnose or exclude meningitis.[1][8]
Some forms of meningitis are preventable by immunization with the meningococcal, mumps, pneumococcal, and Hib vaccines.[2] Giving antibiotics to people with significant exposure to certain types of meningitis may also be useful.[1] The first treatment in acute meningitis consists of promptly giving antibiotics and sometimes antiviral drugs.[1][7] Corticosteroids can also be used to prevent complications from excessive inflammation.[3][8] Meningitis can lead to serious long-term consequences such as deafness, epilepsy, hydrocephalus, or cognitive deficits, especially if not treated quickly.[2][3]
In 2019, meningitis was diagnosed in about 7.7 million people worldwide,[9] of whom 236,000 died, down from 433,000 deaths in 1990.[9] With appropriate treatment, the risk of death in bacterial meningitis is less than 15%.[1] Outbreaks of bacterial meningitis occur between December and June each year in an area of sub-Saharan Africa known as the meningitis belt.[13] Smaller outbreaks may also occur in other areas of the world.[13] The word meningitis comes from the Greek μῆνιγξmeninx, 'membrane', and the medical suffix -itis, 'inflammation'.[14][15]
^ abcdefghij"Bacterial Meningitis". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1 April 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
^ abcvan de Beek D, de Gans J, Tunkel AR, Wijdicks EF (January 2006). "Community-acquired bacterial meningitis in adults". The New England Journal of Medicine. 354 (1): 44–53. doi:10.1056/NEJMra052116. PMID 16394301.
^ abGinsberg L (March 2004). "Difficult and recurrent meningitis". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 75 Suppl 1 (90001): i16–21. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2003.034272. PMC 1765649. PMID 14978146.
^Ferri FF (2010). Ferri's differential diagnosis : a practical guide to the differential diagnosis of symptoms, signs, and clinical disorders (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Elsevier/Mosby. p. Chapter M. ISBN 978-0-323-07699-9.
^Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) (May 2008). "Primary amebic meningoencephalitis – Arizona, Florida, and Texas, 2007" (PDF). MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 57 (21): 573–27. PMID 18509301. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
^ ab"Viral Meningitis". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 26 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
^ abcdTunkel AR, Hartman BJ, Kaplan SL, Kaufman BA, Roos KL, Scheld WM, et al. (November 2004). "Practice guidelines for the management of bacterial meningitis". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 39 (9): 1267–84. doi:10.1086/425368. PMID 15494903.
^ abcd"Global Disease Burden 2019". Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
^"NHS medical conditions meningitis". National Health Service (NHS). 20 October 2017. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference WHO2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ab"Meningococcal meningitis Fact sheet N°141". World Health Organization (WHO). November 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
^Mosby's pocket dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions (6th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby/Elsevier. 2010. p. traumatic meningitis. ISBN 978-0-323-06604-4. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017.
^Liddell HG, Scott R (1940). "μῆνιγξ". A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013.
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known as a cause of meningitis, it can also result in sepsis, which is an even more damaging and dangerous condition. Meningitis and meningococcemia are...
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to as the meningococcus, is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause meningitis and other forms of meningococcal disease such as meningococcemia, a life-threatening...
Herpes meningitis is inflammation of the meninges, the protective tissues surrounding the spinal cord and brain, due to infection from viruses of the Herpesviridae...
Aseptic meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges, a membrane covering the brain and spinal cord, in patients whose cerebral spinal fluid test result...
Neonatal meningitis is a serious medical condition in infants that is rapidly fatal if untreated. Meningitis, an inflammation of the meninges, the protective...
response, hence the alternative names neoplastic meningitis (NM), malignant meningitis, or carcinomatous meningitis. The term leptomeningeal (from the Greek lepto...
the lungs, presenting as a pneumonia, and brain, where it appears as a meningitis. Cough, difficulty breathing, chest pain and fever are seen when the lungs...
the free-living unicellular eukaryote Naegleria fowleri. Symptoms are meningitis-like and include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, a stiff neck, confusion...
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around 20–30%. The two main clinical manifestations are sepsis and meningitis. Meningitis is often complicated by encephalitis, when it is known as meningoencephalitis...
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strains can cause gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, neonatal meningitis, hemorrhagic colitis, and Crohn's disease.[citation needed] Common signs...
Louisa May Alcott (/ˈɔːlkət, -kɒt/; November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the...
and 100% effective for at least two years. They result in a decrease in meningitis and sepsis among populations where they are widely used. They are given...
Haemophilus meningitis is a form of bacterial meningitis caused by the Haemophilus influenzae bacteria. It is usually (but not always) associated with...
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The African meningitis belt is a region in sub-Saharan Africa where the rate of incidence of meningitis is very high. It extends from Senegal to Ethiopia...
angiostrongyliasis, an infection that is the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin. The nematode commonly resides...
including the brain and spine. Examples of these conditions include meningitis and subarachnoid hemorrhage. It may also be used therapeutically in some...
system, often around the brain in the meninges, known as lymphomatous meningitis (LM). Hodgkin lymphoma accounts for about 15% of lymphomas. It differs...
but pathogenic varieties cause serious food poisoning, septic shock, meningitis, or urinary tract infections in humans. Unlike normal flora E. coli, the...
pathogenic species such as H. influenzae—a cause of sepsis and bacterial meningitis in young children—and H. ducreyi, the causative agent of chancroid. All...
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