Essay On Meningitis

Meningitis, it’s an infection in the cerebral spinal fluid and inflammation of the meninges; the three outer layers of the brain. To be more specific, those three layers are called the Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, and the Pia mater. There are three main types of meningitis that will be discussed throughout this paper; viral, bacterial, and fungal. Each form is very similar but they all vary in terms of causative organisms, treatment and severity. Although meningitis is not very common, it can become very severe and always needs to be treated immediately. As far as vaccines go, there are two main vaccines that all adolescence should receive in order to prevent bacterial meningitis. “Around the age of 11 the Meningococcal conjugate vaccine should be given, and later on between the ages of sixteen and twenty three is when you should receive the second booster shot called the Serogroup B Meningococcal vaccine” (CDC, Meningococcal Vaccines). “Pregnant women should be tested at about their 37th week of pregnancy for group B Streptococcus,

These symptoms tend to have a very rapid onset, and when they are recognized, one should seek medical advice immediately. If meningitis is suspected while being seen, the cerebral spinal fluid is tested immediately. They do this by performing a bedside procedure called a lumbar puncture. This is where the physician punctures into a space of the lower back, specifically around L3 and L4, and obtains a sample of the fluid that then gets sent out to the lab for proper testing. Healthy cerebral spinal fluid should be clear, so if there is an infection, it will most likely present as cloudy. Some other test like blood cultures and a CT head scan may also be ordered. Furthermore, different courses of action will be taken depending on how the infection happened, and whether it’s from a bacterium, a virus, or a