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Home » Cold-and-flu » Meningitis » nervous system disease - Meningitis
Meningitis is an inflammation of the meningeal coverings of the nervous system, with possible involvement of the brain. Viruses such as mumps, Coxsackie, and ECHO viruses, tuberculosis, fungi, spirochetes, bacteria, protozoa, and some chemical agents may cause the disease. Organisms most often reach the meninges via the blood, but direct spread may occur with skull fractures, middle-ear or nasal-sinus infections, or congenital defects of the meninges. Symptoms depend upon the infectious organism and the resistance and age of the patient, but they usually include lethargy and drowsiness, fever, headache, stiffness of the neck, vomiting, and (in smaller children) seizures. Patients with nonbacterial, or aseptic, meningitis also have fever, headache, and other meningeal signs, but they are not so obviously ill. Residual consequences of meningitis include cranial nerve palsies (especially loss of hearing), hydrocephalus, and brain damage.
Since treatment with the correct antibiotic is essential to treat meningitis, the most important diagnostic aid is lumbar puncture, the examination of the cerebrospinal fluid. The amount of protein, the number and type of cells, and the glucose level of the fluid confirm the type of meningitis.
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