{"id":107482,"date":"2021-07-14T07:58:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T02:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=107482"},"modified":"2021-07-14T07:58:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T02:28:58","slug":"what-is-meningitis-know-symptoms-types-treatment-diagnose-and-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/health\/what-is-meningitis-know-symptoms-types-treatment-diagnose-and-prevention","title":{"rendered":"What is Meningitis? Know Symptoms, Types, Treatment, Diagnose and Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meningitis is a lethal disease that has taken the lives of thousands.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The brain and spinal cord get surrounded by a membrane known as the meninges. Meningitis is an inflammation of this membrane leading to infection. Bacteria, fungal or viral infections can cause it. The vaccination for meningitis is available today. However, if not taken seriously, it can lead to a life-threatening or fatal situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One of the most lethal forms of meningitis is when bacteria enter the bloodstream and fix themselves in the brain. It causes swelling of the meninges covering, leading to meningitis. Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenza are some meningitis causing bacteria.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What are the symptoms?<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Early symptoms:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Headache<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">High fever<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Joint and muscle pain<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Shivering<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Blue lips<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cold hands and feet<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Later symptoms:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Confusion<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Disillusionment<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fogginess<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Seizure<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Breathing problems<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Light sensitivity<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Who is most at risk?<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meningitis is an airborne disease. It can travel in the form of water droplets in the air and enter your body through the nasal passage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">People living in close quarters such as hostels or military camps and living or working near unvaccinated or sick domestic animals have a high chance of developing meningitis. In addition, low immunity individuals like pregnant women also have an increased risk.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How is it diagnosed?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A blood culture test is sent to check if meningitis causing bacteria are present in the blood.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">X-rays or internal brain scanning to check for abnormal swelling.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A spinal fluid test is also conducted. Symptoms such as low blood sugar, high WBC content shows positive signs of meningitis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Treatment options<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The treatment includes antibiotics for the specific bacteria, fever and pain medication. If the swelling in the brain contains infected fluid, then it is surgically drained.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How to prevent<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wash your hands regularly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Do not share utensils with a sick or infected person.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Keep a hand on your mouth before coughing or sneezing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Eat healthy and immunity building foods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Healthy exercising routine to improve body\u2019s health.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Avoid undercooked or raw meat.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Vaccination is available for preventing meningitis. It can be administered to children from the age of 2 months to adults.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meningitis is a fatal disease if left unchecked. It can lead to kidney failure, blindness, hearing loss or paralysis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meningitis is a lethal disease that has taken the lives of thousands.\u00a0The brain and spinal cord get surrounded by a membrane known as the meninges. Meningitis is an inflammation of this membrane leading to infection. Bacteria, fungal or viral infections can cause it. The vaccination for meningitis is available today. However, if not taken seriously, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21818,"featured_media":105428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11071],"tags":[6977],"class_list":{"0":"post-107482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health-2"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21818"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107482"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108116,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107482\/revisions\/108116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}