If you suspect meningitis, you should seek medical help – Tue, 23 Apr 2013 PST

Wednesday is World Meningitis Day, dedicated to raising awareness about this disease. Worldwide, more than 1.7 million people suffer from meningitis, a sometimes treatable and often preventabledisease.

Meningitis refers to inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, which may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, physical injury, cancer and certain drugs. If you have meningitis, you may have one or more of the following symptoms: fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, and altered mentalstatus.

Seek medical care if you suspect meningitis because the treatment, severity and potential outcomes vary depending on the

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Wednesday is World Meningitis Day, dedicated to raising awareness about this disease. Worldwide, more than 1.7 million people suffer from meningitis, a sometimes treatable and often preventabledisease.

Meningitis refers to inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, which may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, physical injury, cancer and certain drugs. If you have meningitis, you may have one or more of the following symptoms: fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, and altered mentalstatus.

Seek medical care if you suspect meningitis because the treatment, severity and potential outcomes vary depending on thecause.

Newborns and infants are at higher risk of severe bacterial or viral meningitis and may not show symptoms, or symptoms may be difficult to spot. An infant who has symptoms described above or lacks alertness, is irritable, is vomiting or feeding poorly, has a bulging soft spot on its head or displays abnormal reflexes should be seen by a health care providerimmediately.

When I was in medical school and residency, meningitis was a more common problem for infants, but since the pneumococcal and Hib (Haemophilus influenza type B) vaccines became available in 2000 and 1985, respectively, such infections are quite unusual. Hib vaccines are given to infants only since they are most susceptible to this particular infection. Check with your health care provider to see if the pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for you or your children. Meningococcal meningitis vaccinations are also available for people who are traveling to countries where it is more common and for teenagers or collegestudents.

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If you suspect meningitis, you should seek medical help - Tue, 23 Apr 2013 PST