Know about Symptoms of Meningitis to Avert Life Threatening Complications

Meninges are a three layer membrane like covering over the brain and the spinal cord. The three layers of meninges are duramater, arachnoid and piamater, dura being the outermost. Inflammation of any of these three layers is medically termed as meningitis. The cause of meningitis is varied. Mostly the cause is infective, but other non-infective causes like cancer, drug-induced and autoimmune disorders like migraine can also produce meningitis. Most common causative organism is bacteria and the organism varies according to age of the patient. In case of children and newborn, Group B Streptococcus, Listeria monocytogenous and Nisseria meningitidis are common. In young adults, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Hemophilus are common. In adult patients, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, N. meningitidis and S. pneumonia are the principal causes of meningitis. We will now discuss about the symptoms of meningitis.

• High grade fever – temperature ranging from 35 to 40 degree centigrade is seen in meningitis. Fever is associated with chills, but unlike malaria, rigor is absent.

• Headache – intense headache is virtually present in all cases. The whole area of head is generally affected. But sometimes, a particular area can also be affected depending upon the area of meningitis.

• Neck rigidity – this is hallmark feature of meningitis. The patient cannot move his neck and even if he tries to do so, he may feel intense headache along with nausea and vomiting.

• Drowsiness – patient is drowsy all the times. This is partially due to prostration and partially due to inflammation of the meninges. He is irritable, much unlike any kind of viral fever.

• Apathy to food – for the children and toddlers, this is a common feature. He may refuse to take his food.

• Rapid and shallow breathing – this is seen in all age groups. The rate of respiration is increased and the patient prefers to take shallow breathe.

• Vomiting – irritation of meninges induces vomiting response. The vomiting is regurgitating and when asked to the patient, it is sour in taste.

• Abdominal pain and diarrhea – if the causative organism is E.coli, the patient may complain of severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. The pain is colicky in nature (off and on).

• Generalized body ache – meningitis caused by S. pneumoniae produces severe pain all over the body.

• Difficulty in vision – patient refuses to see in the light. He feels better in dim lighting conditions.

• Persistent cough – if the organism for meningitis of M. tuberculosis, patient will give history of chronic cough with expectoration. This will be associated with loss of weight, pain in the chest, coughing out of blood and evening rise of temperature.

• Seizures – although this is a rare complain, but if present, it can be life threatening. Seizures in meningitis mean that the meninges are severely inflamed and carry a bad prognosis. There may be confusion and delirium. In extreme conditions, patient may transform into a state of coma.

• Skin rash – streptococcal meningitis can produce skin rashes.

We should know about the symptoms of meningitis as early diagnosis and proper management will prevent the patient from severe brain damage.