Diseases » Bacterial meningitis » Introduction

Bacterial meningitis

Bacterial meningitis: Introduction

A bacterial infection which results in inflammation of the meninges of the brain. The meninges are the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Serious cases can result in brain damage or even death. The condition most commonly affects young children.

Symptoms of Bacterial meningitis

• Tachypnoea
• Fever
• Tachycardia
• Hypoxemia
• Diaphoresis
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 38 symptoms of Bacterial meningitis

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Bacterial meningitis:

• Cold & Flu: Home Testing:
  • Home Fever Tests
  • Home Ear Infection Test Kits
  • Home Flu Tests
  • Home Strep A Tests
• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Related Home Testing:
  • ADHD -- Home Tests
  • Drug Screening Kits
• more tests...»

Bacterial meningitis: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Bacterial meningitis:

• Prolonged fever
• Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
• Acute respiratory distress syndrome
• Seizures
• more complications...»

Disease Topics Related To Bacterial meningitis

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Bacterial meningitis:

• Bacterial infection of the meninges
• Acute bacterial meningitis
• Streptococcus pneumoniae
• S pneumoniae
• Neisseria meningitidis
• N meningitidis
• more related diseases...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Bacterial meningitis

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Bacterial meningitis

• Lumbar puncture (spinal tap)
• Blood culture - Blood tests for bacteria
• Meningococcal rash pressure test - test a skin rash for the "failure to whiten under pressure" property of a meningococcal rash.
• more tests...»

Read more about tests for Bacterial meningitis

Wrongly Diagnosed with Bacterial meningitis?

• Misdiagnosis of Bacterial meningitis
• Failure to diagnose Bacterial meningitis
• Hidden causes of Bacterial meningitis (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Bacterial meningitis

Bacterial meningitis: Self Assessment Tools

• Stroke -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Bacterial meningitis: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Bacterial meningitis:

• Stroke
• Brain
• more product offers...»

Bacterial meningitis: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Undiagnosed:
  • Adult ADHD -- Undiagnosed - ADHD can be undiagnosed in adults.
  • ADHD -- Undiagnosed
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Migraine -- Undiagnosed
  • Concentration Disorders -- Undiagnosed
  • Stroke -- Undiagnosed
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Undiagnosed
  • Schizophrenia -- Undiagnosed
  • Epilepsy -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Bacterial meningitis

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered from...read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a ...read more »

Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms of severe brain injury are hard to miss, it is less clear for milder...read more »

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI),...read more »

Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease or ...read more »

Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return. A variety of...read more »

Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in children. See misdiagnosis...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Bacterial meningitis

Bacterial meningitis: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists):
  • Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists)
  • Pediatric Neurology (Child Brain Specialist)
  • Pediatric Neurosurgery (Child Neurosurgeon)
  • Clinical Neurophysiology
  • Neurodevelopment Disabilities
  • Neurosurgery (Brain Surgery)
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (Nerve/Muscle/Bone Specialists)
  • Neuroradiology
  • Vascular Neurology
  • Neuropathology
  • Otology / Neurotology (Ear/Hearing Specialists)
• Stroke & Vascular Specialists:
  • Vascular Neurology (Brain Blood Vessels)
  • Vascular & Interventional Radiology
  • Vascular Surgery (Blood Vessel Surgeon)
  • Neuropathology (Brain Diagnostics)
• Senior Health Specialists (Geriatrics):
  • Geriatric Medicine (Senior Health Specialist)
  • Geriatric Psychiatry (Senior Mental Health)
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Bacterial meningitis: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Rare Types:
  • Adult ADHD -- Rare Types
  • ADHD -- Rare Types
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Rare Types
  • Migraine -- Rare Types
  • Concentration Disorders -- Rare Types
  • Stroke -- Rare Types
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Rare Types
  • Schizophrenia -- Rare Types
  • Epilepsy -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Bacterial meningitis

• Meningococcus
• Pneumococcus
• Hib
• Tuberculosis
• E. coli
• more causes...»

See full list of 12 causes of Bacterial meningitis

More information about causes of Bacterial meningitis:

• Underlying causes of Bacterial meningitis
• Bacterial meningitis as a complication caused by other conditions
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Bacterial meningitis

Treatments for Bacterial meningitis

• Emergency hospitalization
• Antibiotics
• Measures to reduce pressure within the brain. If meningitis is causing pressure within the brain, corticosteroid medicines such as dexamethasone may be given to adults or children
• Measures to reduce fever. Medicines such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), fluids, and good room ventilation reduce fever
• Measures to prevent seizures. Medicines such as phenobarbital or dilantin can help stop seizures
• more treatments...»

See full list of 7 treatments for Bacterial meningitis

Latest Treatments for Bacterial meningitis

• Antibiotics
• Corticosteroids
• more treatments...»

Read more about the latest treatments for Bacterial meningitis

News Archives for Bacterial meningitis

Medical news articles related to Bacterial meningitis include:

• Bacterial Infections May Be Overlooked in SIDS Cases
• Bacterial Infection May Boost SIDS Risk
• more health news...»

Source: HealthDay News

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Bacterial meningitis

Medical research articles related to Bacterial meningitis include:

• Fluid therapy for acute bacterial meningitis
• Steroids for Adult Bacterial Meningitis
• Corticosteroids and mortality in children with bacterial meningitis.
• Dexamethasone in Meningitis
• Serum procalcitonin level and other biological markers to distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children: a European multicenter case cohort study
• Genetic susceptibility to severe infection in families with invasive pneumococcal disease
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

Videos for Bacterial meningitis

See full list of 4 related videos

Patient Surveys for Bacterial meningitis

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Bacterial meningitis
  Take Survey  View Results

Prognosis for Bacterial meningitis

Prognosis for Bacterial meningitis: Untreated, bacterial meningitis is almost always fatal.

More about prognosis of Bacterial meningitis

Reseach about Bacterial meningitis

Visit our research pages for current research about Bacterial meningitis treatments.

Clinical Trials for Bacterial meningitis

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Bacterial meningitis include:

• Amikacin Penetration Into the Cerebrospinal Fluid - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Systemic and Intra-Thecal Amikacin Therapy
• Study in Children to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of 4 Formulations of GSK Bio MenACWY-TT Conjugate Vaccine - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Study to Evaluate GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals MenC-TT Vaccine and Hib-MenC-TT Vaccine in Infants - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Study to Evaluate GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals MenC-TT and Hib-MenC-TT or Meningitec in Healthy Toddlers - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Immunogenicity and Safety Study of a Meningococcal Serogroup B Vaccine Given in a 3 Dose Schedule to Healthy Adolescents Aged 12 -18 Years - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• more trials...»

See full list of 18 Clinical Trials for Bacterial meningitis

Prevention of Bacterial meningitis

Prevention information for Bacterial meningitis has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Bacterial meningitis.

• Vaccinations
  • HIB conjugate vaccine - a widely used vaccine that has greatly reduced Hib incidence.
  • Polysaccharide meningococcal vaccine - protects against 4 meningococcal strains: A, C, Y, and W135.
  • Conjugate meningococcal C vaccine - a newer meningococcal vaccine that works for infants but only against subtype C.
  • Polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine - older vaccine; not for under 2 years.
• more preventions...»

Read more about prevention of Bacterial meningitis

Statistics for Bacterial meningitis

• Medical statistics for Bacterial meningitis
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Bacterial meningitis
• Death and Mortality statistics for Bacterial meningitis
• Society statistics for Bacterial meningitis

Bacterial meningitis: Broader Related Topics

• Meningitis
• Bacterial diseases
• Brain conditions
• Vaccine-preventable diseases
• Brain infection
• more types...»

Types of Bacterial meningitis

Types of Bacterial meningitis

• Meningococcal Meningitis
• Pneumococcal meningitis
• Hib meningitis
• TB meningitis
• E coli meningitis
• more types...»

See full list of 7 Types of Bacterial meningitis

Stories from Users Related to Bacterial meningitis

• Atypical bacterial infection.
• severe bacterial sepsis "survivor" needs help
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• Post Drug Use and Childhood Bacterial Meningitis problems-please read

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Bacterial meningitis, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
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