Meningitis is a serious disease caused by an infection that leads to inflammation of the meninges. Due to the imperfection of the immune system, children are more susceptible to this disease.
According to research by scientists, one in three children who have had this disease subsequently have mental disorders, learning problems or suffer from epilepsy, and one in five have increased anxiety or behavioral disorders.
Consequences of meningitis in children (viral or serous meningitis)
Viral meningitis is more common than bacterial meningitis and although it is rarely life threatening, recovery from illness can be slow and long-term, sometimes not until puberty.
Typically, they include headache, memory impairment, fatigue, anxiety, depression, dizziness andproblems with coordination. In some children, serous meningitis can cause an increase in the amount of CSF, which, in turn, can lead to hydrocephalus, hearing loss and visual impairment.
Sequences of meningitis in children (bacterial meningitis)
Most often, the most serious complications occur in the field of a bacterial type of disease. About 15% of people who suffer from it remain with problems that require constant medical support. It can be hearing loss, as well as deterioration or complete loss of vision associated with damage to the optic nerve.
Dangerous complications are brain problems that can cause epilepsy and cerebral palsy. By the way, what consequences after meningitis a patient has can sometimes be judged not immediately, but only months or even years after the disease.
No less serious are the learning difficulties associated with this disease. Fortunately, they tend to be short-lived and recover over time. But aggressiveness, irritability, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating and a tendency to tantrums can stay with the child for a long time.
Purulent meningitis in children: consequences
A type of bacterial meningitis, purulent, is the most severe form of the disease. It can end in death. But more often these are persistent paralysis or unilateral paresis of the face and limbs, cerebralheart attack, encephalitis, and dropsy of the brain (hydrocephalus).
No less serious are organic brain damage, in which it can disappear, for example, centers of hunger or thirst. This forces the patient to live strictly according to the schedule, constantly controlling himself.
Common effects of meningitis in children
Meningitis is a disease that affects a complex and important organ that controls the processes occurring in our body - the brain. Children who have had it in a mild form and without complications still suffer from migraines or periodically occurring hormonal disruptions.
Even if there are no pronounced consequences of meningitis in children, they should be registered at the dispensary for another two years and regularly undergo examinations by a neurologist, infectious disease specialist and pediatrician. Only if the residual effects of the disease have not been detected, the child is considered recovered.
