Common bacteria or viruses that can cause meningitis can spread through
coughing, sneezing, kissing, or sharing eating utensils, a toothbrush or a cigarette
. These steps can help prevent meningitis: Wash your hands. Careful hand-washing helps prevent the spread of germs.
The medical guidelines for airline travel advise
avoiding flying with an active middle ear or sinus infection or recent surgery
. CSF leakage, a known risk factor for meningitis, is not mentioned as a predisposing factor of meningitis episodes related to air travel, or as a reason for not flying.
Some of the enteroviruses that cause viral meningitis are contagious while others, such as mosquito-borne viruses, cannot be spread from person to person
. Fortunately, most people exposed to these viruses experience mild or no symptoms.
What does a headache from meningitis feel like?
Headache. A headache caused by meningitis is typically described as
severe and unrelenting
. It does not subside by taking an aspirin. Stiff neck.
What countries is meningitis most common?
Meningococcal disease occurs worldwide, with the highest incidence of disease found in the ‘meningitis belt' of
sub-Saharan Africa
. In this region, major epidemics occur every 5 to 12 years with attack rates reaching 1,000 cases per 100,000 population.
Most people who get mild viral meningitis usually recover completely in 7 to 10 days without treatment
. Antiviral medicine may help people with meningitis caused by viruses such as herpesvirus and influenza. Antibiotics do not help viral infections, so they are not useful in the treatment of viral meningitis.
Symptoms of Viral Meningitis
Viral meningitis usually begins with symptoms of a viral infection, such as fever, a general feeling of illness (malaise), cough, muscle aches, vomiting, loss of appetite, and headache. However,
occasionally, people have no symptoms at first
.
Symptoms usually occur within one week of exposure to the virus. The symptoms rarely last over 10 days. Recovery is usually complete. Incubation: The incubation period for enteroviruses is usually
between 3 and 7 days
from the time of infection until the development of symptoms.
Does meningitis require 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
.
Recovery. If you are diagnosed with viral meningitis, you will usually find that symptoms improve within a few days and most recover fully after
one to four weeks
. It is common for you to experience tiredness for a longer period following this.
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.
Bacteria or a virus can cause meningitis. Viral meningitis is more common, but bacterial meningitis is more serious.
It can lead to brain damage, paralysis, or stroke
. In some cases, it can be fatal.
Can you get meningitis twice?
It is very unusual for anyone to have meningitis more than once, but it is possible
. Most people some develop immunity to the organism that has caused their disease. However, there are several different causes of meningitis and therefore it is possible, but rare, to have the disease more than once.
Herpes viruses
are the other common cause of viral meningitis in adolescents and adults in developed countries[2]. Herpes viruses include the herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) and varicella zoster virus – the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.
What part of your head hurts when you have meningitis?
The symptoms of both viral and bacterial meningitis are similar. Usually headache is the predominant symptom, but fever is also usually present and the neck is stiff. Bending the neck forward greatly aggravates the pain. The headache is generalized
all over the head
.
Can symptoms of meningitis come and go?
Symptoms of meningitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans begin gradually and subtly, and
they may come and go
. Less commonly, chronic meningitis is caused by the following: Other bacteria (such as those that cause syphilis.
Can sinusitis lead to meningitis?
Also in rare cases,
sinus infections in the rear center of one's head can spread into the brain. This can lead to life-threatening conditions like meningitis or brain abscess
, Dr. Sindwani says. “Before antibiotics, people would die from sinusitis,” he says.
Who is generally at highest risk for meningitis Why?
Age – In general,
young children
are at the highest risk of getting bacterial meningitis and septicaemia but other age groups can also be vulnerable to specific types. Geography and environment – Some countries have higher rates of meningitis and septicaemia.
What are the chances of surviving meningitis?
WHAT IS THE PROGNOSIS? Prognosis of meningitis depends on the cause. Untreated bacterial meningitis has a very high death rate. Even with appropriate treatment,
the death rate from bacterial meningitis is about 15-20%
, with a higher death rate associated with increasing age.
What is the fatality rate of meningitis?
Without treatment, the case-fatality rate can be
as high as 70 percent
, and one in five survivors of bacterial meningitis may be left with permanent sequelae including hearing loss, neurologic disability, or loss of a limb (18).
Viral meningitis can be contagious from
3 days after infection starts to about 10 days after symptoms develop
. Bacterial meningitis is usually less contagious than viral meningitis. It's generally contagious during the incubation period and an additional 7 to 14 days.
What can mimic meningitis symptoms?
The most common alternative etiologies that mimic viral meningitis are:
erhlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Kawasaki disease, and Lyme meningitis
. Other conditions sharing some of these symptoms are: drug-associated aseptic meningitis, central nervous system vasculitis, neoplastic diseases.
What part of the neck hurts with meningitis?
Meningitis can cause a stiff neck. This is because it causes inflammation and infection in
the meninges surrounding the brain and spine
. A person will likely feel the stiffness from the inflammation most noticeably in their neck, which is the most mobile area that the meninges cover.
The clues that the doctor uses are the levels of white cells, protein and glucose in the CSF.
Typically in bacterial meningitis the white cell count is much higher than in viral meningitis
(and is a different type of white cell), the protein is much higher and the glucose is much lower than in viral meningitis.
