Expert classified this meningococcal meningitis as a serious and life-threatening infection. Overdue treatment can lead to permanent neurological damage even death. Same with the other type meningitis disease, the viral meningitis, this infection affect to the membrane that lining the brain and the spinal called meninges. Specific to meningococcal meningitis, this type of the disease is commonly caused by Neisseria meningitidis. Since it caused by bacteria, expert was grouped the disease as bacterial meningitis.
The early symptoms of the disease start to appear two to ten days after the exposure. Someone who experiences the disease may feel headache, fever, neck stiffness, vomiting, and photo sensitivity. Untreated or overdue treatment may lead to behavioral and emotional effect such as unknown irritable or despondent sensation, a children may have temper tantrums and clingy. Those emotional problems usually can resolve by it self but sometime need a mental health expert or counselor to get faster recover.
Medical treatment for meningococcal meningitis
Since the cause of the disease is bacteria, the most common of the medical treatment is use appropriate antibiotics. After the diagnoses and it confirmed that the disease is meningococcal meningitis, doctor will give specific antibiotic. Several antibiotics can treat the disease such as ampicillin, penicillin, ceftriaxone and chloramphenicol. Those antibiotics are commonly intravenous given to the patient.
In several epidemic cases such as in Africa, ceftriaxone or oily chloramphenicol is effective enough to overcome the epidemic since a single dose of the drugs has been shown to be effective to treat this meningococcal meningitis disease.
Beside the source of the disease, health expert also give other medication to manage the symptoms of the disease. Patients with septicaemia may need large amounts of intake of fluid to normal their blood level. To reduce the inflammation and to lower the pressure around the brain, medical expert will gives steroids.