Synonyms in a broader sense
Medical: Meningitis purulenta or meningitis serosa
- Meningitis
- Encephalitis
- Meningoencephalitis
The term meningitis (inflammation of the meninges) describes an inflammation (-itis) of the meninges (meninges), which can be caused by very different pathogens. There are two forms of meningitis: purulent meningitis (purulent meningitis) is caused by bacteria. It is accompanied by high fever and a severe general clinical picture and represents an absolute emergency that must be treated immediately.
Non-purulent meningitis (non-purulent meningitis), which is usually caused by viruses, is usually more harmless and often occurs in the context of general virus infections (except for herpes simplex encephalitis, which is an acute emergency). The symptoms and course are milder and the prognosis is better.
- The purulent meningitis
- Non-purulent meningitis
Epidemiology and Gender Distribution
The ratio of purulent meningitis to non-purulent meningitis is approximately 1:5. 3⁄4 of purulent meningitis falls ill before the age of 10. In Germany, there are about 60 cases of meningitis per 100,000 inhabitants per year, of which 5-10 cases are purulent meningitis. Especially infants, toddlers and elderly people are affected because their immune system is either not yet or no longer functioning well.
Symptoms of Meningitis
At the beginning of the disease, symptoms similar to influenza, such as fever, aching limbs and headaches, occur. As the disease progresses, the specific symptom of neck stiffness occurs, which means that it causes the sufferers severe pain when they move their head towards the chest. In addition, the sufferers often complain of sensitivity to light and noise. Babies and toddlers, on the other hand, tend to show unspecific symptoms such as fatigue, weakness in drinking and irritability. In addition, a bulging fontanel or cramps can occur.
Pathogen spectrum
The pathogen spectrum is widely spread and varies according to age, previous illnesses, season and also the transmission path. In principle, any pathogen can also be the cause of meningitis (inflammation of the meninges). Depending on age, different pathogens can be found as triggers for meningitis (meningitis).
Essentially, three groups can be distinguished: In newborns, it is often bacteria such as Escherichia coli and B-streptococci, more rarely Listeria (Listeria monocytogenes), which cause meningitis. They are transmitted from mother to child during or directly after birth. In addition, until the introduction of vaccination against the bacterium Haemophilus Influenzae (not to be confused with the influenza virus that causes influenza!)
in 1990, half of all severe purulent meningitis in children affected infants in their first year of life. Since the introduction of this vaccination, these have decreased dramatically.
- Newborn babies
- Toddlers and schoolchildren
- Teenagers and adults
In people with a weakened immune system, such as patients with HIV, leukemia, immunosuppressive therapy (i.e. a therapy that suppresses the patient’s own immune system as in rheumatoid arthritis) or in alcoholics, listeria (Listeria monocytogenes) and enterocococci (<10%) are common pathogens of meningitis (inflammation of the meninges).
Fungal and parasitic infections of the meninges are also more common. In addition, viral infections in which the viruses have remained in the body or nervous system after infection (virus persistence) are reactivated more frequently in these patients, i.e. they cause disease in the body again after a long symptom-free resting phase. Typical representatives are the viruses of the herpes group: herpes virus 1 (causative agent of “lip herpes”), cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella zoster virus (VZV, causative agent of chickenpox and “shingles“) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV, causative agent of whistling glandular fever).
Finally, there are also bacteria that can cause non-purulent meningitis. These include the mycobacterium tuberculosis (Meningitis tuberculosa), Treponema pallidum (the causative agent of syphilis, Neurolues) and Borrelia (the causative agent of Lyme disease, which is transmitted by a tick bite).Atypical forms of meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the meninges and brain) are caused by pathogens such as rickettsia, brucella, coxielle, the pathogen causing sleeping sickness, malaria and many others. The transmissible forms of bacterial and abacterial meningitis must be reported to the public health department in order to prevent the dangerous infectious disease from spreading further.
