1.0 Background/Causes:
A fatal microbial disease, commonly known as Meningococcal meningitis, can be scientifically referred to as any illness caused by the infectious Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. (SEE APPENDIX 3.0) The highest extended disease rate is located within the belt of sub-Saharan Africa, stretching within twenty-six countries from Senegal to Ethiopia. The infectious Meningococcal bacterium are transmitted through person to person contact; spread by exchanging respiratory and throat secretions, such as saliva or mucus, during intimate or neighbouring contact. These bacteria do not hold any animal reservoir and can only be transmitted from humans. Approximately one in ten people unknowingly have the bacteria living harmlessly and
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In order to be infested with Neisseria meningitidis, close prolonged contact from one person to the other must be present from anywhere between a two and ten day incubation period. (World Health Organisation, 2015.) Most of the consistently occurring symptoms of the disease include sensitivity to light, heavy breathing, cold chills and shivers, confusion, blood rashes, headaches, vomiting, high fevers and a stiff neck. (SEE APPENDIX 2.0) Initial diagnosis of Meningococcal meningitis is made by a clinical examination, and can be confirmed by growing the bacteria in specimens of spinal fluid or blood by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Although in most cases the disease is recognised during early stages, adequate treatment leads to the death of 5-10% of patients typically after twenty -four to forty-eight hours of experiencing symptoms. (World Health Organisation, 2015.) In serious cases, this bacterial meningitis can result in learning disabilities, hearing loss or severe damage to the blood stream, brain and spinal cord. Severe brain damage and blood poisoning can lead to a traumatic death, whilst serious spinal cord injuries leave victims paralysed. This affects approximately 10-20% of all survivors. (Disease Control,
In fact, a specific region of Africa has been dubbed the meningitis belt. Those living in this sub-Saharan region stretching from Senegal to Gambia are at risk for the lethal epidemics that ravage the land during most dry seasons ("PATH."). Bacterial meningitis works in a very specific way, with quite a few symptoms; however, adequate treatments and vaccines have been developed.
Africa has the highest incidence of meningococcal disease, tuberculosis, and malaria because of overcrowding in many villages. There is an area in sub-Saharan Africa called the Meningitis Belt that stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia with over 20,000 reported cases and 2,000 deaths every year (Healthgrades editorial staff, 2015). During the dry season in Africa, from December through June, meningitis epidemics occur with the three major areas infected being Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Chad. The most recent outbreak of the meningococcal disease reported in the United States occurred as meningitis in the dorms at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Princeton University in New Jersey in December of 2013 (Doheny, 2013). When the outbreak occurred at these two universities it was caused from serotype B of the disease and resulted in one death. Since the current meningococcal vaccine does not cover the serotype B bacteria the FDA allowed the use of a special vaccine from New Zealand to treat the outbreaks (Burrell, 2015). One in five US teens have not had their first recommended dose of meningococcal vaccine and for those who have had the first dose of the vaccine,
Meningitis, also known as spinal meningitis, is a viral or bacterial infection causing inflammation of the membranes, called meninges. Meninges act as a natural protective barrier that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. When the barrier is permeable, infections are able to transmit a disease in or through and cause serious or even fatal effects. There are different causes for the different categories of meningitis resulting in different symptoms and severities in each.
3,000 Americans contract Bacterial Meningitis each year. Out of those 3,000, about 10 %, or 300 people, die from the infection. Approximately 125 of these cases occur on college campuses across the country. Out of these campus outbreaks, there is an annual average of 10 student deaths.
Meningitis is a contagious infection of the cerebrospinal fluid and inflammation of the meninges, the nearby membrane that covers the spinal cord and brain. Both the meninges and cerebrospinal fluid serve as protectors
In 1887, the causative agent Neisseria Meningitidis, the meningococcus, was identified. Because of its potential to cause epidemics, Neisseria Meningitidis is one of the most important types. In 1805, when Meningococcal disease was first described, an outbreak swept through Geneva, Switzerland. Twelve subtypes of Neisseria Meningitidis have been identified. Four of them have been recognized to cause epidemics. Those four are: A, B, C, and W135. The capabilities differ of the pathogenicity, immunogenicity, and
Meningitis is spread from person to person through saliva/spit often directly transmitted through kissing, coughing or extended contact with another person i.e. living in the same household.
Rouphael N, Stephens S (2015, March 4) Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology and Epidemiology Retrieved from
N. meningitidis produce an antiphagocytic capsular polysaccharide, which is a coat with highly variable surface proteins, to permit evasiveness. Additional mechanisms such has having a high variable pili and producing high amounts of endotoxin lipopolysaccharide contributes to its pathology. N. meningitidis also happens to require iron reduction as part of their metabolism and growth and therefore validates humans as their optimal reservoirs. Other requirements for bacterial metabolism, growth and virulence are mineral salts, pyruvate, lactate, amino acids (GC), and glutamic acid. When infection occurs, N. meningitidis will aggregate blood cells
N. meningitides bacterium responsible for outbreaks in densely populated areas such as childcare centers, boarding schools, or college living areas (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). These outbreaks are most common in winter and spring months when risk factors like upper respiratory infections are more likely (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). Immunosuppression must be present for this pathogen to invade. Other risk factors for meningitis are otitis media (middle ear infection), mastoiditis (mastoid bone infection) (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010), systemic sepsis, sinusitis (sinus infection), basilar skull fractures, and the very young and the very old (Porth & Matfin, 2009).
There are multiple different types of bacteria that can cause bacterial meningitis, which were discovered in the late 19th century. These bacteria’s are Streptococcus pneumonia, Streptococcus pneumonia, and Haemophilus influenza. (1) Russian physician Vladimir Kernig and Polish physician Jozef Brudzinski both separately found other symptoms of meningitis this leading to the Kernig’s sign and the Brudzinski sign.
According to the Meningitis ‘search for a cure’ documentary, doctors are researching for a universal vaccine, which can prevent the after-effects and remove this disease permanently from the body.58
To avoid the advancement of bacterial meningitis (BM), it is appropriate to know the injury of bacterial producing meningitis together with its cure will typically rely on four major elements namely: The age of the patient; the severity of the injury; what organism is generating it and are more medical settings available? The cure for serious meningitis which is practically ever bacterial but can also be viral can have need of hospitalization [4].
Many people don’t know this but there's more than one type of meningitis. There's actually 5; bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal and non-infectious and each of these are classified by the cause of the disease. Even though they are different types of meningitis, all 5 of these types are life threatening and as most people know, what this disease is, is inflammation of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Although meningitis is mostly caused by a bacteria or a virus, it can also be caused by an injury,illness and medications.
Meningococcal disease is a large concern in the medical field because it is unbiased towards the patients it infects. There has been limited success in trying to eliminate this disease. Antibiotics play a role in helping to treat patients with bacterial meningitis, and steroids have been tested to help reduce risk factors. Prevention has also become a key issue because meningitis can only be spread through direct contact with infected body fluid. The best prevention is to maintain clean hygiene. Vaccines are another way of preventing disease. However, there are multiple serogroups of meningitis that makes creating a universal vaccine extremely difficult. So far, there have only been two