Meningitis is a disease that occurs when a microbe (virus, bacterium, fungus), having overcome all protective barriers, enters the membrane that directly covers the brain and spinal cord. As a result, inflammation occurs in this place, threatening at any moment, especially without treatment, to go directly to the tissue of the central nervous system, as well as cause life-threatening consequences.
Meningitis, the first symptoms of which usually occur against the background of purulent diseases of the ear, nose, and throat (especially if a person has a constant outflow of cerebrospinal fluid through the nose or ear), lungs, and also several days after the onset of measles, chickenpox, and rubella ARI, mumps, symptoms, can also develop as a primary disease, that is, one that occurs against the background of complete health without any previous phenomena. Sometimes a disease can complicate a herpetic infection, herpes zoster, infectious mononucleosis. In all these cases, the sooner adequate assistance is provided in an infectious diseases hospital, the better the prognosis for life.
Meningitis: first symptoms in adults
The initial manifestations of this disease in adults are:
1) Headache - very intense, usually localized throughout the head or in the temples and parietal areas, aggravated by sharp head rises, transition to an upright position, patients prefer to lie because of it. This pain can occur in the middle of the night and wake a person.
2) An increase in body temperature is an indispensable sign of meningitis. If instead of a headache in rare cases there is back pain, then fever is a constant "companion" of this disease.
3) Nausea and vomiting - they do not depend on food intake, after them it does not become easier. It is precisely because of these symptoms that patients are most often mistaken for “poisoning,” the headache is attributed to intoxication, and for some time the treatment is not carried out to the extent necessary for meningitis.
4) Photophobia against the background of the first two signs may also indicate that it is meningitis.
5) Strengthening the sensitivity of the skin - the usual touch becomes unpleasant for a person, he tries to protect himself from this.
6) The appearance of a dark star-shaped rash against the background of the unchanged skin of the buttocks, legs, forearms, and less often the torso suggests that meningitis develops here, the first symptoms of which may appear later or, in the case of fulminant course, do not appear at all. The very appearance of such spots is a reason for calling an ambulance immediately, since the disease is deadly and will not go away by itself.
The first signs of meningitis in children under one year old
- Lethargy, drowsiness, sometimes the baby is even impossible to wake.
- Unusual, inadequate behavior against the background of even a slightly elevated body temperature (this may indicate that the child sees hallucinations).
- Monotonous cry.
- The fontanel, which children under one year old, stands above the level of bones (it must be at the same level with them and pulsate).
- The child does not calm down, if you take him in his arms, on the contrary, he screams even more.
- Vomiting "fountain."
- Refusal of food.
- The rash, which is usually dark in color, star-shaped, merges with each other, does not disappear when the skin is stretched.
- The child lies with his head back and arched unnaturally.
- Convulsions against a background of low body temperature or even when it has already decreased itself or under the influence of antipyretic drugs.
Parents should be wary of any of these symptoms as their body temperature rises.
If the doctor suspects that the child or the adult has meningitis, the first symptoms that he checks are:
a) stiff neck: in the supine position with maximum relaxation, it is impossible to bend the neck so that the chin reaches the sternum;
b) in infants: if you take his armpits, he pulls his legs to his chest, it hurts him when they are extended;
c) the leg bent at the hip and knee joints cannot be bent at the knee (checked from two sides);
d) the leg is bent in two joints, if you try to bend it in the knee, the second leg bends (you need to look from both sides).
If at least one symptom is positive, this is the basis for a lumbar puncture, because this is the only way to diagnose Meningitis.
First Aid for Meningitis
Should be provided at home and in the car by ambulance doctors, you only need to urgently call them. Before the arrival of the brigade, you need to try to provide the patient with peace, silence and dusk. He should not get up, so you need to provide a vessel or diaper so that a person can go to the toilet while lying down. You can drink, but also without getting up.
If nausea occurs, it is necessary to turn the patient’s head on his side, especially if he is unconscious so that he does not choke on his own vomit. In case of seizures, it is necessary to bring the lower jaw out of the corners so that the lower teeth are in front of the upper ones - this prevents the tongue from getting stuck and blocking the airways.