Meningitis is a medical term of a serious disease. In the clinical practice it is known as inflammation of brain tunics and spinal cord. It could occur as a certain complication of some illness or as independent phenomenon. As per Center for Disease Control this year meningitis outbreak has killed more than 300 people in Nigeria. The article provides you with a lot of interesting and important information about meningitis, its symptoms and treatment.
A sad news stroke the whole world: more than 300 people died of meningitis in Nigeria. The majority of victims were kids and adolescents from 5 to 15 years of age. Meningitis appears from time to time in Nigeria, for instance, in 2015 about 10 000 people took over it and 1100 dispatched. Concerning this tragic statistics, since the beginning of 2017 more than 2000 people had this disease and completely recovered. However, the case is becoming extremely serious because the epidemic as a matter of urgency has not been stopped yet owing to the lack of meningitis vaccine in Nigeria. Now it is known that meningitis has spread in 15 states of the country already and no less than 3 million people need to be vaccinated. Such a disastrous situation!
So what are the causes of meningitis in Nigeria that “kills” people so cruelly?
The epidemic outbreaks in Nigeria had been caused by a chain of reasons:
- rather cool nights;
- dry and windy weather;
- peculiar religious customs;
- overpopulation;
- poor sanitary situation.
If to search a profound cause we should state that it is infection that penetrates to spinal cord or brain tunics through the air, feculent-oral contamination (consuming dirty food), blood or lymph. The causative agents are: bacteria (staphylococcus, streptococcus, colon bacillus, tubercle Koch's bacillus, meningococcus, Klebsiella); viruses (for example, herpes, patotiditis); fungi (Candida); unicellular organisms (amoeba); low immunity level because of starving and constant overcooling; pancreatic insular diabetes; chronic diseases (stomach ulcer, heart failure); inborn immunity problems; HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Some scientists briefly remark that Nigeria is located in so called ‘meningitis zone’ where there are all the necessary favorable conditions for meningitis to take place.
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The symptoms of meningitis
Everybody should care about health therefore it is extremely important to recognize the very first symptoms of meningitis to take appropriate medical measures. So typical symptoms of this disease are:
- headache;
- neck rigidity with fever;
- changed state of consciousness;
- sensitivity to light and sound.
These are major signs of meningitis in adults. It may be lethal or cause physical disability. Symptoms of meningitis in children become apparent through agitation, anxiety, crying, drowsiness, diarrhea, constant belching, and a high temperature. Babies may suffer frequent convulsions as a symptom of this disease.
Meningitis treatment
Concerning meningitis treatment it should be noted that there is vaccine against certain forms of meningitis, though specialists think that it had been brought a special culture of meningitis that couldn’t be cured in Nigeria.
As for meningitis diagnostics, it lies in getting the spinal fluid sample with the help of a medical syringe. Antibiotics, antiviral and antifungal medicines are used to treat the thick. Sometimes steroid preparations are applied to prevent severe inflammations.
If not treated immediately meningitis could lead to serious complications:
- deafness;
- epilepsy;
- hydrocephaly;
- mental disorders in children;
- death.
Hope that the given information will be useful for you and your beloved. Let’s look on the bright side and hope for the best.
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