2 minute read

Meningitis

Prevention

A series of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae, started at two months of age, has greatly reduced the incidence of that form of meningitis. Vaccines also exist against Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, but these vaccines are only recommended for those people who have particular susceptibility to those organisms, due to certain immune deficiencies, lack of a spleen, or sickle cell anemia.

Because N. meningitidis is known to cause epidemics of disease, close contacts of patients with such meningitis (other children in day care with the patient, other military personnel within the same training camp, and people living within the patient's household), are treated with Rifampin. This generally prevents spread of the disease.

Mothers with certain risk factors may be treated with antibiotics during labor, to prevent the passage of certain organisms which may cause meningitis in the newborn (particularly Group B streptococcus).

Resources

Books

Andreoli, Thomas E., et al. Cecil Essentials of Medicine. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1993.

Berkow, Robert, and Andrew J. Fletcher. The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. Rahway, NJ: Merck Research Laboratories, 1992.

Cormican, M.G. and M.A. Pfaller. "Molecular Pathology of Infectious Diseases," in Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 20th ed. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 2001.

Isselbacher, Kurt J., et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: McGraw Hill, 1994.

Kobayashi, G., Patrick R. Murray, Ken Rosenthal, and Michael Pfaller. Medical Microbiology. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 2003.

Koch, A.L. Bacterial Growth and Form Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001.

Krugman, Saul, et al. Infectious Diseases of Children. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book, Inc., 1992.

Richman, D.D., and R.J. Whitley. Clinical Virology. 2nd ed. Washington: American Society for Microbiology, 2002.

Tunkel, Allan R. Bacterial Meningitis. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001.

Willett, Edward. Meningitis (Diseases and People). Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publsihers, 1999.

Periodicals

"Pidemics Of Meningococcal Disease. African Meningitis Belt, 2001." Weekly Epidemiological Record/World Health Organization 76, no. 37 (2001): 282-288.

Tsukahara, Hirokazu. "Xidant And Antioxidant Activities In Childhood Meningitis." Life Sciences 71, no. 23 (2002): 2797.

Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt

KEY TERMS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Blood-brain barrier: —A blockade of cells separating the circulating blood from elements of the central nervous system (CNS); it acts as a filter, preventing many substances from entering the central nervous system.
Cerebrospinal fluid (also called CSF): —Fluid made in chambers within the brain; this fluid then flows over the surface of the brain and spinal cord, providing nutrition to cells of the nervous system, as well as cushioning.
Lumbar puncture (also called LP): —A medical test in which a very narrow needle is inserted into a specific space between the vertebrae of the lower back in order to draw off and examine a sample of CSF.
Meninges: —The three layer membranous covering of the brain and spinal cord, composed of the dura, arachnoid, and pia. Provides protection for the brain, as well as housing many blood vessels.

Additional topics

Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Mathematics to Methanal trimerMeningitis - Anatomical Considerations, Infectious Causes Of Meningitis, How The Infectious Agents Of Meningitis Gain Access To The Meninges