Consequences and late effects
Meningitis caused by viruses usually has a milder course than bacterial meningitis. Nevertheless, meningitis can always have late effects. These can include movement disorders such as paralysis, visual disturbances, damage to the hearing organ, up to and including deafness, the development of hydrocephalus (colloquially also called hydrocephalus; in this case there is a disturbance in the flow of cerebral fluid) and impairments of mental development.
Bacterial meningitis can lead to death if it is detected too late. There are life-threatening complications such as cerebral abscesses (melting of brain tissue), increases in intracranial pressure, which can lead to a constriction of brain tissue in the course of the disease, or Waterhouse Friderichsen Syndrome, which affects children and adolescents in particular if they have meningitis caused by meningo-, pneumococcus or Haemophilus influenzae. During this process, toxins are released by the bacteria, which interfere with blood clotting and cause bleeding into various organs, especially the adrenal glands, and thus damage them, which can lead to septic shock.
Typical signs of this are mucosal bleeding and punctiform bleeding of the skin, so-called petechiae. Children under three years of age have the highest risk of developing bacterial meningitis, which is why preventive vaccination is important here.
