Meningitis

Meningitis has been around for a long time, but the actual insertion into medical journals did not occur until the early years of the 1800s. It has been known to cause the deaths of countless individuals, and when left untreated has meant the complete eradication of entire families and villages. While in medical terms what is meningitis can best be explained as a kind of inflammation that affected the exterior membrane enveloping of the nervous system, the fact that this membrane also involves the spinal cord as well as the brain underscores the danger of the condition.

Spinal meningitis – as the ailment is often called – refers to the introduction of microorganisms into the blood; they then transcend the blood vessels and invade the spinal chord and fluid, thus adversely affecting the membranes. A history of meningitis showcases that there are three recognized forms of the disease:

• Viral meningitis which presents with symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and in rare cases seizures. This kind of meningitis is often treated by hospitalization for observation, administration of fluids, and in rare cases antiviral medications. This kind of meningitis subsides on its own quite frequently.



• Secondly is fungal meningitis which is sometimes referred to as cryptococcal meningitis. While it does not usually present a danger to patients with healthy immune systems, those whose immune systems are compromised because of chemotherapy or AIDS are primarily those seen with this strain.



• Last but not least is bacterial meningitis which is the most common and also most dangerous form of meningitis. Death is an outcome frequently noted unless emergency medical treatment is given as soon as symptoms of meningitis are suspected. To this end, physicians will often begin antibiotics treatments even if the final test results are not yet in.

Meningitis bacteria pictures reveal that at the heart of the infection is streptococcus, but e-coli and listeria are also closely associated with the production of meningitis symptoms. The signs and symptoms of meningitis are plentiful: mimicking flu, spinal meningitis symptoms run the gambit of headaches, fevers, chills, and sore throats. Furthermore, meningococcal meningitis presents with light sensitivity, delirium, and vomiting. Last but not least, some of the more telling bacterial meningitis symptoms are uncontrollable twitches, seizures, and a stiff neck. Studies on canine meningitis have shown that some of the symptoms lead to permanent hearing loss which may be treated aggressively with cochlear implantation as soon as the inflammation has been controlled and eradicated.