Meningitis disease: causes, symptoms and treatments

The disease of meningitis is accompanied by an inflammatory process in the membranes of the spinal cord or brain. Such a disease can occur for various reasons, and the rate of its progression may also differ in each individual case. Nevertheless, this is an extremely dangerous disease, since the mortality rate here is from 10 to 20%.

Meningitis: What is the disease and what are its causes?

As already mentioned, meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes of the brain - it can be a hard or arachnoid membrane, but most often the disease affects the soft layers. The cause of the disease is infection - most often it's viruses and bacterial microorganisms. The disease of meningitis is divided into two forms depending on the source of infection:

1. The primary form develops as a result of infection from outside. In this case, pathogenic microorganisms most often enter the membranes of the brain through the nasopharynx. Sometimes meningitis is the result of severe craniocerebral trauma or open fractures of the skull. By the way, the source of bacteria and viruses are sick people.
2. Secondary meningitis is a complication of some other serious infectious disease, for example, angina, sinusitis, frontal sinusitis, acute or chronic inflammation of the ear, dental diseases, gums, etc.

Meningitis: signs of illness

In most cases, the disease begins suddenly, and its first symptoms resemble an ordinary cold. Patients complain of weakness, pain and aching muscles, lack of appetite, and a strong temperature increase. But as the disease develops, there are other, more specific symptoms that can not be overlooked. And one of them is a headache, which is diffuse. Every day the intensity of pain is increasing - it is simply impossible to sustain. Discomfort significantly increases when the patient tries to turn his head, press his chin to his chest. Attacks of pain can provoke and some external stimuli, for example a strong noise.

Migraines are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting, which, unfortunately, does not bring any relief. Sometimes the infection affects the cranial nerves, which leads to the development of light strabismus. At some forms of a meningitis on a body there is a small eruption of dark-cherry color which disappears by itself after some days.

Disease of meningitis: treatment methods

A person with such symptoms should be rushed to the hospital. The disease of meningitis is extremely dangerous, so the patient is immediately hospitalized. Several tests are done to confirm the diagnosis, in particular, the withdrawal of the cerebrospinal fluid takes place.

It is worth noting that it is not always possible to accurately determine the nature of the pathogen. Therefore, antibiotics are used for treatment - in most cases it is penicillin or cephalosporin. Medications are administered intramuscularly or intravenously, less often - by puncture directly into the cerebrospinal fluid. Some other drugs are also used that help avoid complications. For example, with the risk of developing cerebral edema, diuretics are prescribed to the patient.

As a rule, the course of treatment lasts at least 3 weeks. And in a few months the patient is recommended rest, although this question is solved by a doctor individually.