how do you know you have bacterial meningitis?
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What are the symptoms of bacterial meningitis? You want to watch for high fever, headaches, and an inability to lower your chin to your chest due to stiffness in the neck. In older children and adults, you may see confusion, irritability, increasing drowsiness. Seizures and stroke may occur.
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Antibiotics can't cure viral meningitis, and most cases improve on their own in several weeks. Treatment of mild cases of viral meningitis usually includes: Bed rest. Plenty of fluids.
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A blood test for antibodies to the bacteria is the preferred test for the diagnosis of Lyme disease. However, if a person has central nervous system symptoms, such as meningitis, then IgM, IgG, and western blot testing may sometimes be performed on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
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Doctors suspect viral meningitis based on symptoms and do a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to confirm the diagnosis. If people appear very ill, they are treated for bacterial meningitis until that diagnosis is ruled out.
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Bacteria that enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain and spinal cord cause acute bacterial meningitis. But it can also occur when bacteria directly invade the meninges. This may be caused by an ear or sinus infection, a skull fracture, or, rarely, after some surgeries.
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Children between the ages of 1 month and 2 years are the most susceptible to bacterial meningitis. Adults with certain risk factors are also susceptible. You are at higher risk if you abuse alcohol, have chronic nose and ear infections, sustain a head injury or get pneumococcal pneumonia.
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['Fever.', 'Headache.', 'Sensitivity to light.', 'Fatigue.']
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Viral meningitis presents with similar symptoms to bacterial meningitis such as fever, headache, dislike of lights and neck stiffness. It can present with a rash, but this is normally quite different to the rash seen in bacterial meningitis with meningococcal disease. Viral meningitis is almost never life-threatening.
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Symptoms of bacterial meningitis can appear quickly or over several days. Typically they develop within 3 to 7 days after exposure. Later symptoms of bacterial meningitis can be very serious (e.g., seizures, coma).
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Headache, stiff neck, fever, nausea and vomiting, photophobia, and altered mental status are potential symptoms of fungal meningitis. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid are cultured and examined to diagnose fungal meningitis.
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How contagious is meningitis? In short, most bacterial meningitis infections are mildly to moderately contagious person to person, while some viral meningitis are contagious but other types are not. Fungal, parasitic, and noninfectious causes of meningitis are not contagious from one person directly to another.
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When to Call Your Doctor You have mono symptoms for longer than 10 days or you have a severe sore throat for more than a day or two. Your doctor will want to rule out other illnesses, such as strep throat. You have a severe headache that won't go away and a stiff neck, which might be signs of meningitis.
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Typical signs of a bacterial infection include white pus-filled spots on the tonsils, no cough and swollen or tender lymph glands. If you develop severe tonsillitis as a teenager or adult, your GP may recommend a blood test for glandular fever.
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['Fever.', 'Loss of appetite.', 'Headache.', 'Tiredness and a general feeling of being unwell (malaise)']
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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)
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Patients with aseptic meningitis often present with classic meningeal symptoms, including fever, neck pain or stiffness, photophobia, headache, nausea or vomiting and perhaps altered mental status although this is NOT a prominent feature of viral meningitis, the most common cause of aseptic meningitis.
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People with meningitis may need to stay in hospital for a few days, and in certain cases treatment may be needed for several weeks. Even after going home, it may be a while before you feel completely back to normal.