Meningitis can strike anyone. And it is not necessary to go without a hat in winter, you can just talk with a patient with SARS or another viral disease, or not treat purulent otitis media or sinusitis.
Children are most susceptible to the disease, whose immunity is still simply weak, and the body cannot resist many viruses. Adults who have eaten or drink from common dishes with a sick viral disease also get sick, simply communicated with him or “swallowed” the virus that got into unboiled water or milk. At the same time, an adult is more likely to get sick if his body is weakened by hypothermia, lack of sleep, constant stress or a long illness. Basically, more often people with low immunity can experience for themselves how meningitis manifests itself.
Incubation period of the disease
The disease can be caused by a huge number of different microbes, each of which needs not only to get into the human body, but to overcome the protection from the barrier of cells that protect the brain and its membranes. Therefore, to say exactlyHow long does meningitis appear? On average, the incubation period of the disease is about a week (5-12 days).
How meningitis manifests
The disease begins acutely. In some cases, symptoms that point directly to inflammation of the meninges are preceded by:
- conjunctivitis;
- sore throat;
- appearance of a runny nose;
- temperature increase;
- diarrhea;
- rash: meningococcal meningitis is characterized by the appearance of dark spots that do not disappear when pressed with a glass, for enteroviral - reddish small spots.
How does meningitis manifest itself later, what symptoms will indicate this particular disease?
- Increased body temperature.
- Nausea.
- Vomiting with no relief.
- Headache. Her:
- strong;
- localized in the temporoparietal or frontal region, less often in the entire head;
- intensifies when you stand up, turn your head, and after bright lights or loud sounds;
- poorly relieved by painkillers.
Later symptoms appear:
- inadequacy, aggressiveness;
- convulsions in which a person loses consciousness;
- drowsiness to the point that the patient cannot be awakened;
- strabismus.
A patient with meningitis is unlikely to sit at a computer or watch a movie. He relieves himself by lying on his side, with bentknees. Refuses to eat, sometimes drink. Asks to turn off the light and turn off the sound. This is how a picture of purulent meningitis looks like.
How does serous meningitis manifest itself?
The symptoms are the same, but usually they are less pronounced in intensity. For this meningitis, unless it is caused by herpes simplex viruses, cytomegalovirus or Epstein-Barr virus, the occurrence of strabismus, inappropriate behavior, convulsions is not typical. It is the headache accompanied by fever that comes to the fore in this disease.
How does meningitis manifest in babies?
Babies can't complain about having a headache. They express it like this:
- cries monotonously for a long time;
- refuse to go hand in hand;
- lie with head thrown back and legs tucked to chest;
- refuse to eat and drink;
- may have convulsions;
- spit up and even vomit like a "fountain";
- it is noticeable that the large fontanel (a pliable place between the bones of the skull) is tense, pulsating and sticking out.
