Dangerous Form of Meningitis Thrives in Winter, Experts Say

What's Meningitis?
Meningitis is the inflammation of the linings of the brain and spinal cord. When caused by meningococcal bacteria, these two conditions together are know as menigococcal disease.
So, meningitis is inflammation of the membranes which cover the brain and spinal cord. There are two types of meningitis
-Viral, is milder and usually needs no treatment
-Bacterial, can be life-threatening and requires emergency treatment
Both viral and bacterial meningitis are usually caused by an infection and can occur at any age. However, bacterial meningitis more often affects children whilst viral meningitis more commonly affects young adults.

Who is affected?
The cause varies at different ages, so 80 per cent of bacterial meningitis occurs in the under-16 age group and the majority are under five. Viral meningitis tends to affect older children and adults.

Viral meningitis
Viral meningitis tends to appear in winter epidemics, is usually not very severe and most people recover fully, often without specific treatment. The illness is because of infection that's caused by a virus. Initially vague flu-like symptoms occur with fever and muscle aches.

Bacterial meningitis
Bacterial meningitis tends to be more severe with a serious risk of complications,including death. It's mainly caused by the haemophilus influenzae bacterium, and the meningococcus type B and C bacteria. The bacteria that causes meningitis vary with the child's age - but meningococcal meningitis is the most common, and on the increase. Non-infectious causes of meningitis include cancer and auto-immune diseases. In bacterial meningitis symptoms develop rapidly, often over hours, whereas the symptoms of viral meningitis may take a couple of days to develop. In meningococcal meningitis a rash may develop that starts as purple-red, pinprick spots and rapidly spreads to become blotchy. The rash doesn't fade when pressed.

What are the symptoms?
In adults and children symptoms include:
-severe headache
-fever
-stiff neck
-dislike of bright lights
-nausea and vomiting
-dislike of bright light or noise, and neck stiffness
-fast pulse and blue cold periphery.
-An unusual rash which doesn't blanche when pressed may be a sign of meningococcal infection.
-Complications, especially in bacterial meningitis, include damage to hearing, damage to other nerves in the body, brain abscesses, stroke, and collections of fluid on or in the brain.

Vocabulary:
Linings : Revestiments
Milder: suau
life-threatening: Amenaça la vida
whilst: mentres que
fully: Plenament
increase: augmentar
rash: erupció
develop: Desarrollar
spreads to become blotchy: s'extenen per convertir-se en taques
stiff neck: rigidesa del coll
dislike of bright lights : no t'agrada la llum brillant

Well, after this summary you can see that meningitis it's a serious and dangerous disease, I had the bacterial and I know that it's usually for the children under 16 years old, but I'm a exception. I don't wish to anybody this disease.