Symptoms of purulent meningitis: what should prompt urgently to see a doctor

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain. Many microbes can start this process: viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa. They enter the body in different ways, and they are brought to the skin by either blood or lymph flow, or they penetrate from organs close to the brain.

Where does meningitis come from?

Symptoms of purulent meningitis are more likely to appear in those cases if:

A) the body is weakened by a serious illness, constant stresses, hypothermia, the intake of cytostatics and hormones-glucocorticoids;

B) there are diseases of the nervous system:

- in children - cerebral palsy, central nervous system, various cysts and hemorrhages that appeared in utero;

- in adults - cerebral circulation disorders due to atherosclerotic, diabetic changes in blood vessels, damage to their walls due to hypertension;

- in children and adults - hydrocephalus, defects of the skull bones, which are often accompanied by the flow of liquor through the nose or ear;

C) a fairly aggressive microbe entered the body that could overcome the protection of the brain and its membranes, or the bacterium was introduced through the broken integrity of the bones of the skull with its injuries, pathological fistulas (messages).

The more risk factors, the more likely that the disease develops in the event of entry into the body of a bacterium.

Symptoms of purulent meningitis can appear after contact with a patient with meningococcal (less often pneumococcal or hemophilic) infection by a person. The disease also develops as a complication against the background of transferable purulent diseases:

- pneumonia;

Otitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, frontalitis or etmoiditis;

Osteomyelitis of the bones of the skull;

- sepsis;

- furuncle or carbuncle located on the face, head, neck;

- purulent endophthalmitis and some other diseases.

Purulent meningitis: symptoms

1. An unbearable headache that appeared against the background of high body temperature. At such sensations it is impossible to work, sit at the computer, play games, watch TV: I want silence, peace. It's easier to lie than to sit or stand. Children who do not know how to speak still cry because of this pain, but they do not want to go to the hands especially, since in such a situation it becomes worse for them.

Pain is poorly and for a short while is removed by anesthetics. The more the disease progresses, the worse the medications of this type are if antibiotics are not started.

2. Body temperature, which usually reaches very high digits.

3. Nausea.

4. Vomiting, after which it does not become easier. There is no diarrhea, the connection with the overdue food too.

5. Photophobia.

6. Cramps, often repeated, when a person not only involuntarily bends or unbent limbs or stretches the entire body, but also there is no reaction to others, it is possible to stop breathing.

7. A rash that does not disappear when stretching the skin. It usually begins with the buttocks, then the distant parts of the limbs, then passes over to the shoulders and hips, the trunk. On the face happens, but rarely. Around such a rash, black patches can form in which the skin has died out.

About the rash I want to say this: if it arose against a background of high body temperature, even if a person no longer complains anything, urgently call an ambulance. In this case, a lightning-fast (in hours and minutes) disease development is possible, and even meningitis may not be able to develop, and a person will die from hemorrhage to the adrenal glands.

8. Impairment of consciousness: nonsense, agitation or, conversely, drowsiness, it is difficult to awaken a person - the symptoms of purulent meningitis.

9. From objective signs you can check only the possibility to get your chin to the sternum in a prone position: if there is meningitis, there is a distance between them, and when checking this symptom, often "pulls" the neck and back.

In what cases is purulent meningitis of the brain contagious?

When it is caused by bacteria such as meningococcus, haemophilus influenzae, less often pneumococcus. Only these microbes (especially meningococcus) can be transmitted from one person to another by airborne droplets. Infect another can:

• Patient with a runny nose and sore throat, which are caused by meningococcus;
• The carrier of this bacterium;
• A person who developed a rash due to this disease;
• A patient with meningococcal, pneumococcal or hemophilic meningitis.

At the same time, infectiousness persists only before taking antibiotics in sufficient doses: once a person is properly treated, he ceases to pose a danger to others, even if the symptoms of purulent meningitis still have not disappeared.

Therefore, if one family member was hospitalized with suspicion of a meningococcal infection or meningitis caused by one of the three said bacteria, the remaining family members should pass a nasopharyngeal sowing for meningococcal transport, and also prophylactically take the drug "Spiramycin" or at least the drug "Ciprofloxacin" .

So, if you think that you see symptoms of purulent meningitis in yourself or a close relative, do not wait, call an ambulance team that will take the patient to the infectious hospital. In this case, a hyperdiagnosis is better than its absence.