Meaningococcal Meningitis

Meaningococcal Meningitis

Definition

Meningococcal meningitis or cerebrospinal fever is an acute communicable disease caused by Neisseria. meningitis. It usually begins with intense headache,vomiting and stiff neck and progresses to coma within a few hours.

Causative organism

Neisseria meningitis

Mode of transmission - Droplet infection Incubation period -2-10 days

Clinical manifestations

·  Headache

·  Fever

·  Nausea/vomiting

·  Photophobia

·  Neck stiffness and various neurological sign.

Complications

·  Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC; blood clotting disorder)

·  Encephalitis

·  Persistent fever

·  Seizures

·  brain damage

·  Behavioral and personality changes

·  Vision loss (partial or total)

·  Cerebral palsy

·  Hearing loss (partial or total)

·  Learning disabilities or mental retardation

·  Paralysis (partial or total) Speech loss (partial or total)

·  Severe bacterial meningitis also may cause the head and heels to bend backward and the body to bow forward (called opisthotonos),

·  Coma, and death

Control Measures

a.  Control of cases, carriers and contacts.

b.  Cases: Treatment with antibiotics can save the lives of 95% of patients provided that, it is started during the first 2 days of illness. Penicillin is the drug of choice.

c. Contact: Close contact of persons with confirmed meningococcal disease patients are at an increased risk of developing meningococcal illness.

d.  Mass chemoprophylaxis: Mass medication of the total population some of which arenot infected. Mass chemoprophylaxis be restricted and closely and medically supervised

e.  Communities : Mass treatment causes an immediate drop in the maintenance rate of meningitis and in the proportion carriers.

f.  Environmental measures : Improved housing and prevention of over-crowding are longterm measures.