We already know the importance of meningitis and getting it, since it is a serious and potentially life-threatening infection. It is a disease that generally occurs in children and if an early diagnosis is made and a correct treatment the child can have a good chance of advancement without any complications.
Of the two types of meningitis that exist, we can specify that bacterial meningitis caused by bacteria are the most serious and this occurs in most children under two years of age. Viral meningitis caused by a virus is the one that is not as serious, except in babies under three months of age. In this case the virus is a herpes simplex (oral) that causes a serious infection to occur.
Thanks to the advances vaccines have been implemented that have drastically reduced cases of meningitis. The exact cause of infection in children is not yet known, although it is known that some are more contagious than others. That is why we are going to talk about recurrent meningitis and why it is caused.
In what cases does meningitis occur?
This disease usually appears from usual form in children with recurrent sinusitisAlso in those with recent head injuries or who have suffered from skull fractures.
In babies under two months they suffer of the development of this bacterium much more easily in your blood flow, due to having a still weak and underdeveloped immune system. Children who have also recently had brain surgery are also very prone.
What is recurrent meningitis?
Recurrent meningitis is one that occurs more than once. It is an inflammation of the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord, where the meninges are, and the space that contains the fluid between the meninges (the subarachnoid space).
Despite the advances, the development of vaccines and good antibiotics, still between 1% and 4,8% of cases of bacterial meningitis usually reoccur another case due to a high number of complications and neurological sequelae.
There are cases of meningitis where the spinal fluid has been sterilized by cleaning the microorganism. But 3 weeks later the case of meningitis reoccurs with a new episode without knowing if it is due to the same microorganism or a different one.
When is it recurrent due to bacteria or viruses?
Photo taken from AboutKidsHealth
In the case of proceeding of a viral meningitis Recurrent is due to the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), called Mollaret meningitis. In this case, the patient suffers from three or more episodes where fever, neck stiffness, headache, drowsiness and slow response appear, both in speech and in vision and hearing. These cases are usually treated with an antiviral drug acyclovir and it usually responds with great success.
In cases of bacterial meningitis, recurrent episodes usually appear for birth defects or injuries, where the bacteria penetrate these weaknesses and cause them to occur. It can take months to years to show symptoms.
It usually manifests itself either by inherited disorders where it affects the immune system where the causative bacteria would be Streptococcus pneumonia or Neisseria meningitidis. The vaccines administered can cope with helping to prevent these infections from occurring.
Whatever it is, the assessment of meningitis cases you have to do them with great adjustment. There are cases where it has not been produced by infections but by the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or other drugs. In this case, you have to stop administering it again.
If you want to know much more about meningitis you can consult what are the symptoms of meningitis in children. If what you want is also how to differentiate between encephalitis or meningitis you can read this article.