Viral meningitis symptoms in adults incubation period

Meningitis (lat.: Meningitis)

Other names: inflammation of the meninges, meningococcal meningitis, meningitis type A or type C

Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the brain (meningitis) is a serious contagious disease that can lead to permanent consequences, or even death. Fortunately, most people are able to recover without consequences.

If not timely initiated therapy, the disease leads to brain damage. Meningitis can have an easy and very severe depending on the causative agent of the disease. Usually, the infection is caused by viruses or bacteria (pneumococcus...). In rare cases, it may be caused by fungi, parasites, tuberculosis, syphilis, or agents of Lyme disease. Infection can also develop as a complication of another disease or traumatic brain injury. In very rare cases, it is caused by medications or vaccination against measles and rubella.

Infectious meningitis is divided into suppurative (bacterial) and viral.

Meningococcus

Meningococcus is a bacterium (lat. Neisseria meningitidis), which is the Creator of the disease called meningitis. We are talking about inflammation of the meninges – membranes that surround the brain. It is a bacterium that is spread between people annually and causes several diseases. First of all, we are talking about the disease to Teens and young adults.

As the transmission of the disease

Meningitis can be transmitted (in most cases) by airborne droplets. The maximum risk is present in a large team.

The main meningeal symptoms

Meningeal symptoms are signs which occur with irritation of the meninges.

• Soreness of the neck – the man tilts his head, trying to touch his chest, a movement for healthy people is painless, with meningitis causes severe pain.
• Symptoms Kernig – at inspection of the man lying on his back, with outstretched legs, the doctor raises his legs and, if not meningitis, a person feels pain in the lumbar spine.
• Symptoms Brudzinskogo – with passive head tilt forward the man begins to bend the lower limb.
• The symptoms of Amos – the doctor asks the man to sit down. In meningitis the person sits down, moving the upper limb back.

The meningococcus and its risk factors

Risk factors for the development of the disease are mainly stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, and other things that weaken the body's defenses. Smoking, whether active or passive, weaken the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and oral cavity and, thus, contribute to the penetration of meningococcus in the blood, thereby compromising the appearance of sepsis. In addition, risky is staying in an environment with a large number of people, because there is a high probability of transfer of bacteria.

It should be remembered that the disease can lead to irreversible brain damage, in terms of blindness, deafness, epilepsy, coma and even death.

Bacterial meningitis

Epidemiology

60% of all cases of meningitis found in children, and in most cases a child with the disease during the first two years of life . adults disease affects are rare, but after 50 years of age again increases the risk of developing the disease.

Newborn to 6 weeks of life are at risk of destruction streptococci, which belong to the so-called group B. After 7 weeks of life children are most vulnerable to the following bacteria:

• Meningococcus.
• Hemophilic Bacillus.
• Pneumococcus.

Neonates and infants meningitis occurs in sepsis or the presence of bacteria in the blood. Meningitis in children of early age usually occurs because of infection from the nasopharynx to meninges, the inflammation can also occur as a result of penetration of infection from the middle ear or with an open craniocerebral injury.

The incubation period of bacterial meningitis ranges from several hours to 3 weeks.

Pathogens purulent inflammation of the brain (meningitis is the most common illness):

• Meningococcus is a bacterial inflammation that affects both adults and children. The most vulnerable groups, however, are children and adolescents. Approximately 10% of people the disease vectors which is this bacterium is asymptomatic.
• Hemophilic Bacillus infection, often occurs in children aged 3 months to 5 years.
• Pneumococcus – in case of defeat this bacteria suffer most adults.
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis – this form is, fortunately, in our latitudes rare.
• Escherichia coli is the pathogen causing meningitis in newborns.

Other causative agents of meningitis include the following bacteria: Staphylococcus, Listeria, Klebsiella, etc.

Pathogenesis

Purulent meningitis can be called primary when the infection has spread directly (for example, on a diaper with blood – hematogenous way), and secondary, when the infection is transmitted to the meninges surrounding locations, such as, otitis, or sinusitis occurs as a result of injury of the skull.

Symptoms of bacterial meningitis

The dominant symptom is a headache, fever, sometimes vomiting, and photophobia. In severe cases may be impaired consciousness.

The main symptoms of the ongoing meningitis include the following symptoms:

• Headache along with meningeal symptoms – rigidity neck with inability to tilt your chin to your chest.
• Rise in temperature.
• Sometimes vomiting, photophobia.
• In severe cases, the disease develops a disorder of consciousness associated with slowing of the heart rate and brain edema.
• Are no exception, epileptic seizures, lesion of cranial nerves and other symptoms.
• In meningococcal Haemophilus meningitis in the skin are petechiae.

The process of disease development is relatively fast – 24 to 36 hours.

Diagnostics

Conducted a neurological examination that reveals typical meningeal symptoms, additionally performed the blood sampling. It is important to note the variant lumbar puncture, in which cerebrospinal fluid – the cerebrospinal fluid is turbid, with the presence of immune system cells. Performed well as serological and other immunological tests to determine the exact causative agent of the disease.

Treatment of bacterial meningitis

Introduced immediate use of antibiotics, the patient takes at least 10-14 days. The drugs of first choice are penicillins and cephalosporins. In addition, suitable use of analgesics for the relief of pain, anti-nausea drugs and drugs that prevent the formation of brain edema.

Complications

Meninges hyperemic, comes to the destruction of the blood brain barrier, leading to brain edema. Pus is formed, which, when hit in the vessels of the brain, contributes to inflammation and ischemia of brain tissue. In addition, can reach to the formation of abscesses containing pus and oppressive brain tissue. Depending on the brain damage can be various types of paralysis, disturbances of vision and hearing loss and dementia. While meningococcal disease can cause bleeding in the adrenal glands. Acute and life-threatening circumstance is the occurrence of sepsis.

Forecast

With proper therapy improvement occurs within 3-5 days, the disease passes without any far-reaching consequences.

Prevention of bacterial meningitis

Possible prevention is to vaccinate against meningococcus and Haemophilus influenzae.

Virus meningitis

This type of meningitis usually has a slower course than bacterial. Disorders of consciousness are rare. But even in this case, a possible post-infectious effects in the form of paralysis, which, fortunately, is often temporary.

Pathogens these of inflammation are the enterovirus. Coxsackie, herpes simplex virus, CMV, EBV, respiratory viruses, arboviruses – encephalitis, paramyxoviridae the viruses of influenza, HIV and others.

id="i-15">Epidemiology

Most common in children of older age children and adolescents.

The incubation period of viral meningitis range from 2 to 12 days.

Insidious viral meningitis – symptoms

In the first stage of the disease there are symptoms of viral meningitis , as:

• High temperature.
• Headache.
• Weakness.
• Other "flu-like" symptoms.

After about 3-7 days, the symptoms of viral meningitis are gradually disappearing until, until you reach a full recovery.

In more serious cases of the disease in children, adolescents and adults comes to the infection, accompanied by such manifestations as:

• A high body temperature.
• The growing headache.
• Dizziness.
• Vomiting.
• Photophobia.
• Fatigue.
• Drowsiness.

In severe forms of the disease, as in children, adolescents, and adults may reach to disorders of consciousness, convulsions, etc.

Diagnostics

An important role plays carefully written medical history including, in particular, issues relating to tick bites. Performed neurological examination, blood tests and a lumbar puncture.

Viral meningitis – treatment

Viral type of disease is generally used in symptomatic therapy aimed at relief of pain, reduce fever and the limits of cerebral edema. In more severe cases introduced antiviral drugs.

Complications

As in the case of bacterial inflammation, when the virus can cause complications that can be permanent – they include paralysis, deafness and other disorders and disorders.

Consequences, the most frequent cases include:

• Constant headache.
• Sleep disturbance.
• Disorders of memory.
• Psychological instability.
• Dementia.
• In children occurs psychomotor retardation.

Prevention of viral meningitis

Preventive measures in children and adolescents can be used, for example, vaccination. Against tick-borne encephalitis virus, measles, mumps…