How is treatment of meningitis of purulent and serous

Meningitis is such a serious disease that, without treatment, it is almost 90% lethal, especially in the case of bacterial inflammation of the membranes of the brain. Treatment of meningitis should be carried out only in a hospital setting, folk remedies can only be used as a supplement to help better tolerate this condition, and they should be used only in consultation with the attending physician.

What is the basis of treatment? Without the results of the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) obtained by lumbar puncture, it is impossible to treat meningitis. Only this analysis can help the doctor to distinguish purulent meningitis from serous, since according to clinical manifestations, that is, symptoms can not always be clear (accordingly, the treatment of meningitis will be incorrect). In addition, some diseases occur with increased intracranial pressure, and with high temperature, and also have positive meningeal symptoms, so this manipulation is necessary for an accurate diagnosis.

During the puncture, several milliliters of CSF are taken for the study. One of them is sent to a clinical laboratory study, according to the results of which the conclusion is given, how pronounced inflammation and what - serous or purulent - it character. Still a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid is sent to the virus and bacteriological studies, the result of which will come a little later and help the doctor to adjust the initially prescribed treatment of meningitis.

Let's try to figure out which drugs are treated for meningitis. Therapy of serous meningitis is based on the use of antiviral nonspecific drugs: these are mainly interferon preparations (Laferon, Viferon, Lipoferon). Their use is based on the fact that when any virus enters our body, immunity is responsible for the production of such a substance, which helps to cope with this infection. In addition, it is desirable to conduct a PCR study of CSF on DNA of herpes simplex viruses, chicken pox virus, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus. These viruses cause the most severe and disabling meningitis, but against them, fortunately, there is a special treatment: "Acyclovir", "Ganciclovir", "Valaciclovir", plus a specific immunoglobulin. Sometimes, in case of a severe condition, with serous meningitis, intravenous "Acyclovir" treatment is started before the PCR results are obtained on the DNA of the herpes-group viruses.

Treatment of meningitis in the case of its tuberculosis etiology consists in the administration of several anti-tuberculosis antibiotics (for example, "Streptomycin") in larger doses than with tuberculosis of other localization.

In the event that serous meningitis is caused by HIV or AIDS-associated flora (it also has a serous character), treatment is performed in specialized hospitals with specific drugs.

If the patient has purulent meningitis, the treatment consists in the introduction of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Only those can be used that can penetrate the barrier from the cells surrounding the brain (the blood-brain barrier). Such drugs are administered only parenterally (i.e., intravenously or intramuscularly, but not in the form of tablets) and only at the maximum dosage.

The first antibiotic is selected based on the relationship between the violation of consciousness and the level of inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid, from age and concomitant pathology. So, if the inflammation is expressed in thousands of cells and the person is conscious, this disease was not a complication of pneumonia, otitis, maxillary sinusitis or other ENT diseases, then the first antibiotics can become "Ceftriaxone" and "Amikacin" in the appropriate dosages. More often, the disease requires more expensive drugs: Meronema, Vancomycin.

The second antibiotic, if necessary, is selected according to the results of the culture of the liquor on the microflora and the sensitivity of the pathogen to antibiotics. The extent to which meningitis symptoms are expressed, treatment does not determine: therapy is selected exclusively by the results of the study of cerebrospinal fluid.