You have three exams and a paper due tomorrow. Your roommate has some kind of rash and a really bad headache. You have only two questions: what does he have and can I get out of midterms if I catch it? Well, don't get too close just yet. If your roommate has meningitis, you'll probably want to call an ambulance instead of asking him to breathe on you.
University and college students are one of the highest risk groups for meningitis, second only to children under the age of three. This is mostly due to close living quarters, a lack of sleep and subsisting solely on Easy Mac and vodka.
Meningitis is a very serious brain disease that causes swelling of the meninges, which is the membrane that covers the spinal cord and brain. Symptoms include fever, severe headache, neck pain or stiffness, sensitivity to light, irritability and lethargy. If the infection is caused by N. meningitidis, an irregular red or purple rash can be seen on the torso and lower legs.
Meningitis is the infection of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by any of several types of bacteria, viruses, fungi or other parasites. Viral meningitis-the most common type-rarely requires hospitalization. The patient is often advised to rest for a few days and will almost always make a full recovery.
Bacterial meningitis requires medical intervention and is generally much more serious. IV antibiotics are necessary and other treatment may be administered, depending on symptoms. Meningitis is diagnosed mainly via a lumbar puncture. Signs of inflammation and the cause of infection can be assessed from this test. Left untreated, bacterial meningitis can lead to brain damage, deafness, seizures, memory loss, vision loss and various other brain-related effects. Paralysis and limb loss are also possible. Five to ten per cent of patients will die.
Infections that lead to meningitis are most often spread by mouth, so sharing drinking glasses, food and towels are possible routes of infection. Bottom line: don't share a beer with that sketchy guy (or girl) next to you at the bar. Being sneezed on, laughed on, coughed on or talked at by an infected person is also a good way to get sick, so try to avoid these things. At the very least, use this as an excuse not to sit in the front row during lectures.
Vaccines are also a good measure of prevention against meningococcal disease, which is a type of meningitis caused by N. meningitidis, a bacterium found only in humans and responsible for the majority of meninigitis cases in young adults.
NeisVac-C, Menjugate and Meningitec vaccines protect against bacterial strain C. Menactra and Menomune vaccines protect against strains A, C, Y and W-135 (these are the four strains recognized by the World Health Organization as being responsible for epidemics).
Handwashing is also useful for preventing the spread of meningitis, not to mention a large number of other illnesses.
Statistics courtesy of the World Health Organization. For more information, visit meningitis.org or who.int.
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