We have heard about meningitis that it is inflammation of the brain, that to prevent this disease it is necessary to get vaccinated and that it is bacterial, but the truth is that it can also be viral, post-infectious, autoimmune, caused by fungi or secondary to medications.
This was stated by the leader of the Neurology area of our Grupo Quirónsalud Clinic, Angélica Gómez, who also explains that this disease inflames the three layers of thin tissue that cover the surface of the brain, cerebellum, and spinal cord, called the meninges. “They play a protective role and stability of the brain structure, which when altered produces local inflammation with cell migration and sometimes affects the brain tissue,” she says.
In the case of meningitis caused by infections, there are viruses, bacteria and enteroviruses that can lead a person to contract it, as referred to by Dr. José Millán Oñate, an infectologist at our Institution who explains that in the case of the type Bacterial infection can be produced by pneumococcus or meningococcus, “as well as by other infectious agents such as tuberculosis.”
What symptoms are present?
- Constant headache.
- Fever.
- Vomiting or diarrhea.
- General discomfort.
- Some patients may present weakness in some extremity.
- Speech disturbance.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Seizures.
- Behaviors such as aggressiveness or disorientation.
When to go to the emergency service?
As soon as the symptoms increase. “If this intense and constant headache is accompanied by stiffness, that the patient finds it difficult to move his head, that there is difficulty in vision and the other symptoms described above appear, it is necessary to go immediately to the nearest emergency department, since the doctor must assess it through physical examinations and diagnoses ”, points out doctor Oñate.
We are all prone to suffering from it, but children and the elderly are the most vulnerable populations for this disease, “as well as people who have deficiencies in defenses or autoimmune diseases,” says Dr. Gómez.
Prevention is in our hands, both specialist doctors recommend complying with the vaccination, whose measure reduces the risks of suffering from it, “children must comply with their entire vaccination schedule and older adults have reinforcements that minimize the risks of suffering from it,” he says. Dr. Onate.
Likewise, care is recommended in colds and infections that are contracted, avoid the indiscriminate and unformulated use of antibiotics, be aware of allergies and avoid the unusual use of analgesics.
If it is not treated in time, what can it produce?
When the disease is allowed to progress, there may be irreversible sequelae in the patient, such as alterations in concentration and in the way of interacting with other people. However, the severity with which the disease has occurred, the time of evolution and what has caused it influences the sequelae that it can leave, among the most frequent are deafness, epilepsy and difficulty moving any extremity.
Can it be contagious?
It depends on what caused it, it is also the risk of contagion. “If it is produced by the meningococcal bacterium, it is likely that it will infect another close person, hence the importance of medical follow-up and analysis, since they will clarify the agent that generated it,” concludes Dr. Oñate.