If but one death can be averted by knowledge, then just imagine
what passing around that knowledge can do. It does seem however that
spreading the information is up against a wall for several reasons:
Public health does not view meningitis as a great enough statistical risk to devote funds to it, so there is no real advertising and most insurance companies will not pay for the vaccine. The question "Will meningitis kill your teenager?" should of course be answered with a resounding no. So let us learn about this deadly killer.
What is meningitis?
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a persons spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Bacterial infection is by far the most serious. Bacterial can be treated with antibiotics and has a preventive vaccine whereas viral has neither.
Three types of bacterial meningitis are:
Pneumococcal meningitis (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b
Meningococcal meningitis (Neisseria meningitides
Cases of meningitis involve all ages, but recently studies show that teenagers are highly affected due to the following:
Public health does not view meningitis as a great enough statistical risk to devote funds to it, so there is no real advertising and most insurance companies will not pay for the vaccine. The question "Will meningitis kill your teenager?" should of course be answered with a resounding no. So let us learn about this deadly killer.
What is meningitis?
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a persons spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Bacterial infection is by far the most serious. Bacterial can be treated with antibiotics and has a preventive vaccine whereas viral has neither.
Three types of bacterial meningitis are:
Pneumococcal meningitis (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b
Meningococcal meningitis (Neisseria meningitides
Cases of meningitis involve all ages, but recently studies show that teenagers are highly affected due to the following:
- Close living
- Sharing utensils
- Sharing cups
- Sharing cigarette
- Sharing lip gloss
- Lowered immune levels due to fatigue or recent illness
What are the signs and symptoms of meningitis?
High fever, headache, pinprick rash, sensitivity to light and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. As the disease progresses, your teenager may have seizures.
Early warning signs
Until recently most parents simply knew to look for the classic signs of meningitis: stiff neck, headache, sensitivity to light and a pinprick rash. But these symptoms can occur as little as two hours from the child becoming critically ill or even dying, leaving almost no time for treatment.
Due to diligent research they have come up with three early warning signs:
Is meningitis contagious?
Yes, some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing). Most forms of meningitis are not as contagious as colds and flu and you cannot get it normally but casual contact or breathing the same air.
Though the exception to that is Meningococcal meningitis, it can be spread by close contact. If you are in the same household or day care or are particularly close to the sick person, then you may need to start antibiotics too as prevention.
My story where meningitis intimately and touched my life and forever changed my sons
My son was in Army Basic Training, he went to sick call probably ten times with headache, fever, sore throat and each time he went they gave him cold medicines, headache remedies and put him on quarters for the day and then back into training. He had just run a five mile training exercise and walked up to the Sergeant and said he was sick.
They looked at how ill he was and rushed him to the ER.
They did a spinal tap finally and diagnosed him with viral/bacterial meningitis. The phone call I got almost killed me as I then drove 18 hours to be there for him. He spent time in the hospital and everyone said how great a man he was that he had pushed through the problem so long. Two years later, and yes he did survive the illness, he has severe and disabling migraine headaches.
The question of "Will meningitis kill your teenager?" has a maybe yes and maybe no answer. For me if it is my power the answer will be no. Listen to what they say, look at them. Do not let something tragic happen because you think it is the flu. Ask yourself always, "what if it is not", "what am I missing".
This does not mean that you have to go paranoid and demand every test in the world, when it most likely is a cold. But trust your Doctors and yet keep your eyes and brain open to everything. Do not ever have to live your life with regrets of "what if I had only".
High fever, headache, pinprick rash, sensitivity to light and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. As the disease progresses, your teenager may have seizures.
Early warning signs
Until recently most parents simply knew to look for the classic signs of meningitis: stiff neck, headache, sensitivity to light and a pinprick rash. But these symptoms can occur as little as two hours from the child becoming critically ill or even dying, leaving almost no time for treatment.
Due to diligent research they have come up with three early warning signs:
- Leg pain
- Cold hands and feet
- Abnormally pale and mottled skin color
Is meningitis contagious?
Yes, some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing). Most forms of meningitis are not as contagious as colds and flu and you cannot get it normally but casual contact or breathing the same air.
Though the exception to that is Meningococcal meningitis, it can be spread by close contact. If you are in the same household or day care or are particularly close to the sick person, then you may need to start antibiotics too as prevention.
My story where meningitis intimately and touched my life and forever changed my sons
My son was in Army Basic Training, he went to sick call probably ten times with headache, fever, sore throat and each time he went they gave him cold medicines, headache remedies and put him on quarters for the day and then back into training. He had just run a five mile training exercise and walked up to the Sergeant and said he was sick.
They looked at how ill he was and rushed him to the ER.
They did a spinal tap finally and diagnosed him with viral/bacterial meningitis. The phone call I got almost killed me as I then drove 18 hours to be there for him. He spent time in the hospital and everyone said how great a man he was that he had pushed through the problem so long. Two years later, and yes he did survive the illness, he has severe and disabling migraine headaches.
The question of "Will meningitis kill your teenager?" has a maybe yes and maybe no answer. For me if it is my power the answer will be no. Listen to what they say, look at them. Do not let something tragic happen because you think it is the flu. Ask yourself always, "what if it is not", "what am I missing".
This does not mean that you have to go paranoid and demand every test in the world, when it most likely is a cold. But trust your Doctors and yet keep your eyes and brain open to everything. Do not ever have to live your life with regrets of "what if I had only".
Get all the FREE help you need and stay aware of the battles our teenagers face! Go here to learn of other numerous embarrassing issues for Men, Women and Teens visit
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Corinne_Bridgewater
0 comments:
Post a Comment