Meningitis is a serious disease in which the tissues or meninges enclosing the brain and spinal cord become infected and swollen caused by a bacteria causing severe headache, fever, and sometimes death—affecting the children and the adults.
Meningitis can produce mild symptoms, such as headache, chills, high fever, lethargy, stiff neck, sensitivity to bright light, nausea, vomiting, seizure, confusion, decreased appetite, etc.
Early treatment of the infection is very important. The physician requires the patient for complete blood count (CBC) and lumbar puncture to be able to make a diagnosis. As soon as diagnosis has been made, an intravenous antibiotic is started as soon as bacterial meningitis is suspected, and several antibiotics may have to be given at once to ensure the bacteria had been effectively treated. Once the bacteria had been identified, some antibiotics may be stopped. Antibiotics for meningitis are usually continued for seven to 10 days.
