The disease manifests itself in the form of inflammation of the membrane of the brain and spinal cord. Enteroviral meningitis, the symptoms of which we will consider today in children , is additionally called “serous”. It is the most common form of central nervous system damage with the Koksaki A, Koksaki B viruses and enteroviruses.
Because meningitis is highly contagious, outbreaks are possible. Typically, this is observed in the spring and summer. And most of all, children from 5 to 9 years old, living in cities and attending child care facilities, are infected.
How enteroviral meningitis occurs: symptoms in children
The disease under discussion is transmitted through dirty hands, water, food, at the time of coughing, sneezing, or simply talking to the patient.
The most common signs of meningitis include the following:
- the temperature rises to 40 ° C;
- headache;
- there is a desire for vomiting;
- the child’s appetite is lost ;
- stool becomes loose;
- pain is observed in the muscles;
- photophobia and an acute reaction to any irritants are manifested;
- the mucous membranes of the pharynx become inflamed.
The main signal for the presence of meningitis is the so-called stiff neck, that is , it is impossible for the patient to tilt his head to his chest. When trying to do this, the baby's legs bend reflexively in the knees.
Enterovirus rash (exanthema)
In some children with this disease, small burgundy rashes were found on the skin. As a rule, they were accompanied by sleep disturbance, runny nose and increased anxiety of the child.
A rash with meningitis in children often resembles rubella and can appear, for example, only on the soles, palms, in the mouth, etc. As a rule, this phenomenon disappears on its own after about 5 days from the onset of the disease.
If the course of the mentioned infection is mild, then the disease quickly proceeds and ends with a complete recovery, without complications and residual effects.
How is meningitis in infants
Meningitis in infants is manifested not only by the signs listed above (by the way, they can be erased) and muscle rigidity: the fontanel in infants with meningitis becomes convex, bulges.
In general, two to three-month-old infants are a special risk group for this disease, since CNS damage by enterovirus at this age is part of a general systemic disease. When it affects the liver, heart, gastrointestinal tract, blood vessels. A condition resembling bacterial sepsis may develop.
But the death in some babies is not associated with damage to the central nervous system, but with liver failure developed as a result of the disease (when infected with the ECHO virus) or myocarditis (when affected by the Koksaki virus).
Is enteroviral meningitis dangerous?
Symptoms in children with viral and bacterial meningitis are similar. But be aware that the least favorable prognosis may be in purulent (bacterial) rather than in viral infection, since the first variety is caused by meningococcus and is a serious disease.
Vaccination can prevent it, however, you need to remember that it helps only against bacteria, there is no vaccine against the virus.
With untimely treatment, the inflammatory process sometimes affects the substance of the brain, then enteroviral meningitis can become life-threatening. Symptoms in children discovered by you are an occasion to urgently consult a doctor!