Meningitis symptoms in children: how to recognize, causes and treatment of meningitis. Symptoms and treatment of meningitis in children than treats meningitis in children

The inflammatory process in children is heavier, with the damage to the central nervous system and some internal organs.

In children's and adolescence, this disease is fixed most often, and the failure of timely measures threatens with a fatal outcome.

The disease may have the primary and secondary mechanism of infection.

In the first case, there is a direct infection in contact with the carrier of infection, and in the second - the brain is defeated as a result of complications of diseases of other organs, when the infection is transmitted by hematogenic.

How to establish a disease at the initial stage?

The first signs of illness in children are presented by classical symptomatic triad:

In an extended form, the initial signs of meningitis can be represented by such a list:

Signs of general intoxication - elevated temperature, skin pallor, muscle and articular pain, shortness of breath, tachycardia, decrease in blood pressure, constant thirst and dry mouth.
Meningleal syndrome. The headache is permanent, diffuse, intense, but sometimes it has a frontal or occipital localization, it can be pulsating or compressing. Does dizziness and excessive sensitivity to bright light. It is possible to vomiting the fountain without pre-nausea.
Neurogenic symptoms- Excessive and increasing arousal, hallucinations and criminalization in the eyes, stupidity, confusion of consciousness, convulsive attacks.
Muscular rigidity. In addition to the tension of the occipital muscle, such violations are noted:
- the legs are not extended in the knee and hip joint (symptom of Kerniga);
- spontaneous bending of the lower extremities when the head is tilted forward (the top symptom of Brudzinsky);
- spontaneous bending of the lower extremities at a pressure in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Lonnoye (the lower symptom of Brudzinsky);
- spontaneous shoulder lift when pressed on the cheeks on both sides;
- forced Pose - Lying on the side with a trapped head and pressed against the belly legs ("Pose of Legal Dog").

In order for meningitis to be able to cause serious complications, it is important to reveal it at the earliest stage. That is why, the initial signs of the child's illness should know every parent.

Signs of meningitis in children 7-8 years

Meningitis accompany 3 basic signs - intense headache, not eliminated by analgesics, elevated temperature and vomiting. They are manifested against the background of hypersensitivity to bright light and sharp sounds. After 4-5 days after the first symptoms, the temperature decreases and time remission is noticed.

Temporary lull of the disease is very deceptive, because Parents sometimes include all transferred to colds, and do not take action, but further pathology enters the next stage, accompanied by severe complications.

After remission, signs of meningial consequences appear. The most serious complications include such pathologies - a comatose state, brain swelling, lung inflammation, renal failure, muscular paralysis.

Approximately 2-3 days of the disease in children develops reddish rash. After a short period of time, the rash acquires a hemorrhagic character, reminding the bruises, and covers almost the whole body.

When such a rash appears, urgent hospitalization is needed, it signals about the beginning of sepsis, which can lead to a fatal outcome.

At various age, the symptoms of meningitis have a certain specificity:

Symptoms in children 6 years. At this age, the dryness of the oral sheath of the oral cavity and eye is especially explicitly manifest. The child is not capable of swallowing movements. Intensive vomiting has been purchased immediately after eating, and it does not bring relief. The child instinctively accepts a characteristic posture ("Pose of Legal Dog").
Signs in a child of 7-10 years. The difficult course of the disease is accompanied by a temperature of 40 ºС and strong pain in the abdomen, resembling acute poisoning. Sparking signs - vomiting, redness and swelling on the face, blurry of the eye of the eyes. There is a delusional state and clouding of consciousness.
Symptoms in adolescents 11 - 12 years. The main manifestations of meningitis in adolescents is similar to the previous age category. The appearance of hypertrophied skin sensitivity is highlighted - children are painfully perceive any touch. Mental disorders are irritable, loss of spatial orientation, hallucinations.

According to the forms of the disease

Meningitis in children can occur in different forms depending on the etiological mechanism.

The most characteristic of such varieties of the disease are:

Symptom recognition at home

Meningitis in a child up to 10-12 years old is determined by characteristic manifestations of headaches and vomiting, but it is often taken for the acute course of colds and ORVI. To clarify the independent diagnosis at home the following tests are carried out:

Additional tests for painful manifestations:

Easy tapping on the chests on both sides causes a sharp mimic cut (symptom of Bekhtereva).
Easy tapping on the skull causes a pain (symptom of Pulatov).
Palpation in the area of \u200b\u200bthe auditory pass causes pain syndrome (Mendel's symptom).

First aid

The most important thing is that parents should make when they appear suspicion of meningitis in a child - as soon as possible to raise an ambulance care.

Arriving team of doctors directs a patient to the neurological department of the hospital for urgent hospitalization.

Primary help to hospitalization includes such measures:

Injection of antibiotics - Penicillin and streptomycin.
Symptomatic therapy - anesthesia by injection of analgesics and dehydration by introducing glucose or magnesium sulfate.

Principles of treatment

The pediatrician with the participation of a neuropathologist and infectiousness should be treated. The basis of treatment is antibiotic therapy, which depends on the type of pathogen. In particular, the bacterial form of the disease is prescribed ceftriaxone and measurement. With viral damage, dehydration therapy is given the main importance.

In children meningitis takes place hardAt the same time, multiple infectious symptoms develop, the brain is affected, pathological disorders of the spinal fluid occur. This is a dangerous pathology, accompanied by a large number of complications, it can lead to a fatal outcome.

In most cases, meningitis is diagnosed in newborns and children under 6 years of age, also the organism of boys is more susceptible to the disease. To prevent the development of neuroinfection, parents should be known as much as possible about this inflammatory process.

In contact with

Causes of infection

Infection of the disease happening airborne droplets, Usually, the child is infected against another patient human or carrier bacteria, from animals (rodents), or through dirty household items.

Signs of meningitis

Medicine detected Several major pathogensmeningitis, namely:

Viruses - pieces, influenza, cortex, etc.
Bacteria - Staphylococcus, hemophilic wand, meningococcus, and blue chopstick.
Fungi - Candida.
Simplest - amoeba, toxoplasm.

Important! In 60 - 70% of cases, meningococcus becomes the pathology pathology, the carrier of which can be a person and an animal. If the microbe falls into the children's body, there is inflammation in the cerebral shell - it is the name of meningitis.

Also causes of occurrence Meningitis in a child may be such:

oncology;
oppressed immunity;
side effects developing after the introduction of drugs;
card and brain injuries;
neurosurgical operations.

Classification of disease

Flashing defeat by meningitis of children marked in winter or spring. A healthy person can be infected with such paths:

household - through infected items;
alimentary - through infected food;
air-dropleted - with contact with patient or carrier of microbes;
transmissive - when the insect bite.

Meningitis in newborns

Infection can penetrate the body yet During the period of intrauterine development.

In accordance with the type of brain shells that are subjected to pathological effects, the disease is classifiedto the following types:

Arachnoiditis - the rarest type, he is striking the "spider" shells of the brain.
PAHIMENINGIT - inflammation develops in hard shells.
Lepomingitis is the most frequent type of disease, and soft, and "spider" cerebral shells are affected by its development.

Incorrect or belated therapy provokes Dangerous consequences in childrenTo which include:

an increase in intracranial pressure;
brain molding;
accumulation of serous mass inside the skull;
long inflammatory processes.

Important! Under the influence of such symptoms, inhibition of intellectual development occurs.

The disease is divided into two types in accordance with the causative agent:

bacterial meningitis.
viral meningitis.

These forms in turn are classified on subspecies, depending on the specific pathogen. Viral meningitis is a neurotropic infection, causative agents through blood penetrate into the central nervous system, cause brain shells.

In 70 - 80% of cases, enterovirus becomes the cause of viral meningitis. The cause of the development of a bacterial form most often becomes Meningokok.

Symptoms during damage to viruses and bacteria practically do not differ, so the doctor for proper therapy should set the type of pathogen.

Manifestations of inflammation

The disease begins as an ordinary respiratory infection. The body temperature is raised, the mucosa of the throat begins to dry, there is a rigorous ring, a headache occurs, light-dive develops. The severity of symptoms corresponds to the age of the patient and the type of infection. It should be borne in mind that the disease has an incubation period, it lasts From 2 to 10 days.

Infant age

Meningitis in newborns are confused with ordinary ARVI, and therefore therapy begins with a delay. The child cannot clarify what and how hurts. And the main manifestation of the defeat - Concision confusion- It remains unnoticed.

Parents should be tried to protect the child from any risk of infection. In the first few months, the newborn is required to conduct a cerebral ultrasound.

Meningitis in newborns is manifested by the convexity of Spring. If you carefully look at the child, you can note the following: the posture lying with the trapped head, pulling the knees to yourself. In this case, you need from ribbed to contact the hospital.

Early age

Symptoms in children 1 - 3 years is developing sharp. The temperature is sharply rising. up to 40 degrees. At the same time, antipyretic drugs do not help or have too weak and short-term action.

Symptoms of meningitis

Then develop Other symptomsmeningitis in children:

constant thrust to sleep;
apathy;
pallor skin I. no reaction on others;
cappy whims and hysterics;
vomiting;
hard headache.

Without the necessary urgent treatment develop strong crampsand spasms in the muscles.

Preschool age

The kid aged from 3 to 7 years can well tell the disturbing violations. The first symptoms in children, not only the rise of temperature and pain in the head of the head. These include and other pronounced manifestations:

lounge reason, delusional condition;
abdominal cutting, similar to the intestinal infection;
nausea with vomiting;
shool yellowing;
redness and swelling of the face;
pain, mucous red throat;
causeslimbs.

Teens

In case of disease, meningitis symptoms in adolescents are almost always the same. These include:

headaches that are in the neck and ears;
sharp rise temperatures;
nausea with vomiting;
lethargy and irritability;
drowsiness;
dizziness, confusion and fainting may appear.

Meningite rash

Teenagers almost always a rash appears When meningitis on the lips, nose, ears, on the sides of the body, gradually it spreads to his feet and arms. Also, symptoms include inflammation of vessels in the eyes and unfortunate squint.

Specific signs of illness

When the incubation period is completed, the infection reaches the cavity of the skull, provokes brain edema and violating the functions of nerve endings in it.

The month of meningitis is usually intense at the beginning, 5 days later, all the signs fall. Parents mistakenly think that this is an ordinary cold, in fact it is not the case for the 5th day The disease passes to the second stagedevelopment - height. At this time, specific symptoms of lesions, which are gradually developing manifest as much as possible:

Muscle rigidity nape. When a child tries to nourish his head or press the chin to itself - resistance develops in the occipital part, it limits this movement.
The symptom of Kerniga is in the position on the back of the patient's foot bend in the knee, resistance appears when extension.
The symptoms of the Brudzinsky - is considered a constant symptom. The leg in the lying position is stitched in the knee. If the second reflexively pulls up to the first- The doctor involves the development of meningitis

One of the main symptoms is Raw with meningitis.In the lightweight form of rash resemble small dark red dots. A few days later they pass. With severe flow, rash is manifested by asymmetric stains and large bruises on legs, hands and body.

Diagnostics

Before appointing treatment, the doctor necessarily conducts a survey to confirm the diagnosis. It is implemented with the help of various methods.

Diagnosis of the disease

The main objects include:

Conversation of a doctor of an infectious background or a neuropathologist with the parents of the child.
Careful examination of the patient to diagnose confirming symptoms.
Lumbal puncturefrom the lumbar department, it makes it possible to put an accurate diagnosis and differentiate the type of disease.
Cytological examination of the liquid - liquid from the ventricles of the brain.
X-ray examination and skull - to diagnose the pathogen and the nature of inflammation.

Treatment process

Therapy for meningitis in a child is implemented only in stationary mustachecatch. A permanent observation of the doctor for the patient's condition is required so that heavier complications can be presented.

Drug therapy

Before appointing any medicines, the doctor identifies the etiology of the development of the disease - bacteria or viruses:

In case of bacterial damage, antibiotics of a wide range of action are required. These are usually preparations from a group of cephalosporins or penicillins.
With viral etiology, antiviral drugs are required - Interferon, acyclovir, Artpol, etc.

Antibiotics can only be applied within 7 days. To continue therapy, the doctor changes the drug to another, otherwise it will be addicted, and the development of immunity to the medicine in pathogenic bacteria.

Almost always the symptom of meningitis is increase intracranial pressure - This happens due to the accumulation of a large volume of liquid near the brain.

She puts on him. The baby suffers from headaches, insomnia, becomes sluggish and irritable. To eliminate such a symptom, Laziks is assigned, Furosemide. These are diuretics that help display excess fluid.

When diuretics do not work, lumbar puncture is carried out - puncture in the lumbar department and the fence of the liquor.

In 40% of the diseases of the development of the disease, seizures of legs are developing - it is painful and incomprehensible for the child, it causes anxiety and fear. To relieve the symptom is shown by Domostedan, Seduksen. This is Y sporal medicineswho do not contribute to addiction and do not have aggressive influence on the CNS.

To facilitate the course of the disease and speed up recovery, required observe some rules:

The child should be in a darkened room due to light sensitivity. It passes after the inflammatory process.
The patient during the treatment period should not be nervous, worry and cry - you need to make maximum efforts for a positive attitude of the patient.
Children's body in the development of meningitis is strongly weakened, and immunity to restore work need help - therefore, a course of vitamin complexes is assigned.
To facilitate overall health, need organization of proper nutrition: Fully excluded hot dishes, sweet, oily, pickles, canned food and marinades. All these products excite and irritate the nervous system.

The consequences of meningitis

About 50% of the recovered after illness face complications to which include:

frequent pains in the head;
violation of the functions of the CNS, the brain;
paralysis, paresay;
convulsions;
loss of opportunity to fully study;
deterioration of visual and auditory analyzers;
accumulation in the brain of fluid;
fast fatiguability;
attacks.

Headache for the disease

This is not the entire list. But the most dangerous and serious consequences arise only in 2%. Prevention of meningitis in children, early diagnosis and proper treatment allows you to safely avoid complications.

Preventive measures

Specific prevention of meningitis in children is in vaccination.When diagnosing the disease, quarantine is installed and the bakposposev is produced. People who have in contact with the child are necessarily introduced serum.

Important! The vaccination will not give an accurate warranty from infection, but allows you to stop the progression of neuroinfection.

In addition to vaccination, people who closely communicated with patients, requires chemoprophylaxis.This is the implementation of a short-term course of antibiotics of a wide range of influence.

Non-specific prophylaxis Meningitis in children involves maintaining immunity and compliance with such rules:

In contact with

It is very important to learn to distinguish the signs of meningitis in a child from ordinary viral infections, because the symptoms of them are very similar. Meningitis is a severe and rapidly progressive disease that can cause great damage to health.

In cases where the disease was diagnosed late, it can lead to grave consequences for the body, and even it is at all the cause of death.

And most of all the children are subject to this submission. The symptoms of meningitis in children are divided into common and specific.

In the course of the disease, the shell of the head or spinal cord is inflamed, which often affects the further development of the baby's nervous system.

The causative agents of the disease may be both viruses and bacteria. There is even a classification of meningitis forms on varieties of pathogens. For instance:

meningococcal is caused by diplococcus and can be transmitted by air; The form of its complications is characterized by the accumulation of purulent masses in the cavos cavities;
pneumococcal is a consequence of infection with a pneumococcus and develops against the background of pneumonia, or simply becomes one of the species of its complications; a consequence of his brain swelling may be;
staphylococcal can develop in a child with a weak immunity and in newborns, which has not yet been 3 months;
hemophilic arises by penetration into the children's body of the gram-negative stick of the PFFEFER; Often this type can manifest itself in children from 6 months of age to one and a half years;
eschherichiosis becomes the result of the damage to the intestinal stick with the generalized form of the echeryhiosis; Often meningitis in children under the year applies precisely to this species flowing very rapidly and, in most cases leading to death;
salmonellic is transmitted by the fecal-oral way, they are most often sick of children to six months, and the flow is very severe;
listeriosis is able to hit the nervous system in a short time, and its symptoms do not differ from other forms.

Meningitis classification methods set. There are a division of the damage zone, i.e., depending on which brain is amazed, spinal or head, according to the characteristics of inflammation, etc.

There is also a classification of the depth of the lesion:

pAHIMENIENGITS are a consequence of inflammation of a solid cerebral shell;
leptomingitis - soft and web shells;
arachnoidites are only one web, which happens in very rare cases;
simultaneous inflammation of all brain shells is called Panmengit.

Serous, purulent and hemorrhagic forms of meningitis are also isolated, according to the nature of the liquor.

The main symptoms of meningitis, similar to all ages

How to recognize the first signs of meningitis in children? The disease has an incubation stage, which, depending on the variety, can last from the week to the crescent.

Most often, a sharp exacerbation occurs after a 10-day term from the moment of infection.

The very first symptoms of meningitis in children may be the same for each form, this is:

temperature increase;
severe headache;
the formation of the nasolabial triangle;
violation of salivation;
nausea, vomit urge;
frequent heartbeat;
blood outflow on behalf;
the appearance of shortness of breath;
the occurrence of pain, if you press on the upper lip, eyelids or middle of the forehead;
loss of appetite;
thirst;
hemorrhagic rash resembling bruises.

If such symptoms occur, you should urgently apply to the doctor. Similar symptoms are characteristic of a variety of viral and bacterial diseases, and therefore, only a professional can recognize the disease.

There are several specific manifestations of disease characteristic only for meningitis. For example, when meningitis, a child appears:

the inability to break the leg bent in the knee in the lying position, because the rear thigh muscles are intense (symptom of cerniga);
unbearable pain when pressed on closed eye eyelids (symptom of mondonese);
rigidity (voltage) of the rear muscles, as a result of which the child cannot touch the chest;
the inability to completely align the body of the baby when holding for the armpit, namely: the legs of the baby, bending into the knees, pull up to the chest (symptom of the forest);
when pressed on the cheeks under the cheeks, the shoulders are risen; When tightening one leg in the lying position, the second automatically repeats its movement; When you press the pubic area, the legs are bended in the knee joints; When lifting the head of the child in the position of lying knees, bending, stretching to the chest (peek, lower, medium and upper symptoms of Brudzinsky, respectively).

The diagnosis of meningitis in children is largely based on the definition of these symptoms.

Signs of serous meningitis

It is necessary to find out serous (viral) in a child meningitis or purulent (bacterial), since they will have to be treated with completely different drugs.

For example, something that helps well from bacteria (in particular, antibiotics) is completely useless in the treatment of viral diseases. And on what type of meningitis in a child will indicate symptoms.

How to determine serous meningitis? The way meningitis occurs in children is very similar to the beginning of the influenza or ARVI. In all cases, at first appears:

high temperature that does not bring down with familiar medicines;
nausea and frequent attacks of vomiting;
weakness.

In bright severity of such symptoms, a doctor should urgently be urgent.

Since the virus often penetrates the body with food, a diarrhea may be observed, accompanied by a bowel and pain. In the case of infection with air droplets, a runny nose and cough is characterized. Later, the remaining distinctive symptoms are shown:

strong headache, exacerbating when driving;
lethargy and weakness;
the child can be disrupted or throw in the heat;
the baby begins to capricious;
sharp, loud sounds and bright light cause a patient discomfort;
the skin becomes hypersensitive;
hearing is broken;
may take place hallucinations;
muscles are automatically strained, cramps may appear;
breeding becomes noticeable, as thrunks.

Signs of purulent meningitis

The purulent (bacterial) meningitis is accompanied by almost the same symptoms as serous, but is characterized by severe, often lightning flow and more likely of the fatal outcome.

Symptomatics by age

For each childhood, their symptoms of meningitis are characteristic. In general, of course, the set of them is similar, but over time the picture changes somewhat.

Some manifestations may disappear or weaken, but others appear to replace them.

Symptoms of meningitis in children up to year

For kids up to 1 year, the symptoms are as follows:

the child often joins;
diarrhea and vomiting appears;
with touch, it exhibits strong excitement;
rodnichok pulses and lightly begins to drink;
frequent cramps, lethargy and drowsiness;
weakness in muscles;
often cases of loss of consciousness;
manifestation of symptom of wood.

Signs of illness in children of 3 years of age

Meningleal syndrome - the main symptom of meningitis in children

If the child has already crossed, but he has not yet turned three, he can have symptoms of several other order.

In particular, from year to 3 years, the list of meningitis features added:

lomotics in muscle tissues;
feeling of ailment;
rash on the skin;
extraneous noises in the ears;
painful sensations from touching the skin throughout the body;
brad during restless sleep;
manifestations of the signs of Burudzinsky.

Symptoms of the disease upon reaching 5 years

Meningheal symptoms in children when reaching for 5 years also undergo changes. Previous manifestations added:

redness of the throat, problems when smoothing;
confusion of thoughts, a child with difficulty finds answers to the simplest questions;
numbness of hand and legs;
stomach ache;
blind of glance, eye-eye proteins, take a yellowish tint;
muscle rigidity;
redness and swelling of the face.

Diagnostic methods

In the diagnosis process, the patient will be subjected to certain types of surveys. A small patient will explore the cytosis of the liquor, the level of sugar and protein in the blood, the leukocyte formula.

In addition to blood and urine tests, there will be a number of such diagnostic procedures as the X-ray of the cranial box, MRI or CT (by decision of the attending physician), but the most important thing is the lumbar puncture.

It is its study that determines, in particular, the patient is sick of serous or purulent meningitis. Based on the diagnosis, subsequent treatment will be built.

Meningitis in children treatment

Since this disease is very infection, the treatment of meningitis in children is carried out in the hospital mode, in special insulators. At first, the sick child prescribe exceptionally bedding.

Intramuscularly or intravenously introduced antibiotics (penicillins, cephalosporins, etc.). In the case of viral etiology, antiviral drugs are prescribed. Symptomatic therapy is carried out according to the available symptoms.

If the disease managed to diagnose on time, a week later, the child will already feel quite healthy and full. A significant improvement in this case is already coming for 3 to 4 days.

If during the next two days after the start of treatment, the improvement did not appear, repeated puncture can be taken and appointed a corrected course of drugs.

Prevention of the disease

Specific prevention of meningitis is vaccination. Now, within the framework of the state program, all citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to free vaccination from meningitis.

But not only this is the prevention of meningitis in children. They must lead a healthy lifestyle, to eat enough vitamins in food to keep the level of immunity at height.

It should be constantly monitored so that the kids follow the rules of personal hygiene, were not overwhelmed and was observed in time by a doctor. After all, if the child is healthy, Silen and Bodr, in most cases his immunity and himself can overcome any ailment.

Conclusion

Do not stand and try to treat meningitis in children yourself.

This is not the disease where you can do the duty set of tablets and mixtures.

Therefore, in order to avoid serious complications and irreversible consequences, it follows at the first hints of similar symptoms immediately to see the doctor.

So you can save the health and life of not only your child, but also those children he can infect this disease in case of negligence or overwrite parents and educators.

Meningitis is an inflammatory process, during which the infection affects the shell of the head and spinal cord. This disease is typical for different ages: more often meningitis detects in children and adolescents with a weakened immunity, but occasionally occurred and in older people who have chronic diseases and bacterial infections.

According to statistics, meningitis is one of the leaders of infectious diseases in the number of deaths. The percentage risk of death is 10-20% of 100, i.e. Each second patient with meningitis risks not to live to the recovery process. Therefore, modern medicine tries to pay close attention to this problem, developing new methods of diagnosis and effective treatment. Timely and adequate assistance of specialists accelerates the amendment process, and reduces the list of possible consequences for the body.

Based on the causes and conditions of development of the disease, meningitis can be divided into groups:

viral. This view of the ailment has the easiest character that does not threaten the patient's life. The peak of morbidity can be called a period of transition from summer to autumn;
fungal. Amazes people with a weak immune system, which is most often found in the elderly. Caused by pathogenic microflora containing fungal infections;
bacterial. The meningitis of this species has pronounced symptoms, it takes hard and can lead to a death. Develops at the beginning of spring;
tuberculosis is the most dangerous view. The pathology is manifested by generalizing tuberculosis in the body.

The development of meningitis, regardless of the root cause begins with the appearance of the same symptoms. With the appearance of the first signs, it should urgently apply for help from a specialist. The first disturbing bells are:

an increase in intracranial pressure;
pain in muscles;
vomiting, which is not accompanied by a sense of nausea;
permanent Migraine, Breathing Pain;
high body temperature, chills;
sensitive perception of bright color and noise;
an unpleasant feeling of compresses in the eyes, temples, ears;
pseudoepiletical attacks;
skin rashes.

It is important to know for what symptoms and how to recognize meningitis, because a healthy person can confuse the first symptoms with the general weakness and ailment of the body. The beginning of the disease is immediately accompanied by symptoms: a headache appears sharply, which is not removed by conventional painkillers. You can observe cramps and arbitrary contractions of the face muscles. Nervous canals may be affected.

In very rare cases, skin rashes appear, rashes, localized on the buttocks and legs. Symptoms is accompanied by a heated headache, sharp squeezing of temples, dizziness, loss of reality, hallucinations, alarming sensations may appear. The skin rashes of black, brown or pink can help identify the beginning of the development of meningitis. Such a rash occurs over the next day after infection.

There are secondary signs of manifestations that are much less likely:

cramps. Convulsive manifestations have similarities with epileptic attacks, but are not so;
psyche disorders. Can appear with a complex tuberculous type of meningitis or encephalitis. You can find it in a pronounced excitation or braking. Children can start carrying nonsense;
excitement of the psychede. It is sick to understand that a person is ill, it is possible on a fussy or restless movement and increased mental activity. These manifestations are characteristic of a later or launched stage, but with rheumatic meningoenefalite can appear instantly.

Modern medicine involves the separation of meningitis into several forms: pneumococcal, meningococcal and purulent. There are distinctive features of each of these forms:

the pneumococcal form of the disease is the consequence of not cured inflammation of pulmonary fabrics. The symptoms of this infection are the oppressed consciousness of the patient, deep failures in memory, not awareness of reality. Such a form of meningitis in a child was almost failed to diagnose, this ailment is inherent in people after 30 years;
meningococcal infection is manifested by abundant rashes on the body, the pathogens of which are bacteria and microbes: Listeria and Staphylococcus;
purulent meningitis is a running form of sinusitis, otitis or sinusitis. Or ENT diseases that did not follow or which appeared as a result of infectious infection. During the attacks, strong convulsions appear, the level of intracranial pressure is raised, and the patient's consciousness becomes unclear.

You can diagnose meningitis at home using the symptoms described above, but after the very first of their manifestations, it is necessary to seem to the neuropathologist and immediately proceed to treatment.

An expert in addition to studying the external manifestations of the disease must continue the study with the help of modern means and tools. Subsequently, give all the necessary prescriptions and state the sequence of effective and surgical treatment.

There is a special test to determine meningitis, which can be tried at home. Everything is extremely simple: ask a person to lie on the back and pull the legs. If the legs are in the knees bend involuntarily, then this is no doubt requires prompt medical care.

Effects

It is already clear how to determine meningitis, but it is much more important to know what is fraught with a frivolous attitude towards the disease and not the desire to treat it. The inflammatory form of infectious disease develops very quickly and threatens unpleasant consequences for the patient. There is a risk of developing such consequences for the body:

disruption of all organism systems and failures in the functioning of internal organs, infectious-toxic shock. If you quickly do not take measures to resuscitate the patient, then it is possible to lose it forever;
hypertension. In this case, the pressure inside the skull increases, the hearing acuity is gradually reduced, which can lead to a complete deafness;
epileptic attack. Brain lesions, which are formed for many years, lead to frequent and strong seizures.

With reluctance to undergo treatment, when ignoring clearly available signs, the patient can fully paralyze. In order to start the normal motorcy again and restore motor functions, you may need a lot of time, forces and financial opportunities. To do this, resort to the courses of therapeutic massage, acupuncture, leaf.

Methods of transferring meningitis

The pathogens of this pathology are microorganisms are capable not only to be transmitted between people, but also to flow through food, contaminated water, various objects, insect bites that are carriers. There are many more options for transferring microorganisms:

from mother to child. During childbirth, the child can pick up the causative agent of a viral disease or a bacterium from the mother, which may not be aware of the presence of a disease in its body. Cesarean section cannot be a 100% guarantee of infection protection, but significantly reduces the risk of infection, if compared with natural genus;
air-drip path. Infected patients through cough and chihanne are capable of transmitting a number of bacteria that do not extend the rates of norms in their body, but are dangerous in contact with the mucous membranes of a healthy person;
through feces. In feces there may be many different infectious bacteria. It is important to understand that regular hand washing will avoid these problems. To this simple rule, it is necessary to teach children from the very early age, because they are most of all at risk of infection through an oral-fecal path;
unprotected sexual contact. An unprotected sexual intercourse, in addition to many terrible diagnoses, can carry the likelihood of meningitis. Also, kisses and contact with infected patient blood can be served;
through animals. The causative agent of meningitis can be contaminated with urine and excrement of mice, rats or hamsters, water and food.

Diagnostics

You can check for meningitis using laboratory and instrumental studies:

biochemical blood test for a detailed representation of the state of the immune system. There are cases when not to do without analyzing sterility;
puncture - samples of the spinal fluid for diagnosing the degree of damage to the body, gravity of the inflammatory process, sensitivity to various drugs and substances;
biopsy is not a mandatory point, but in some cases it is required in order to explore the nature of the skin rashes, their origin, the degree of body damage;
urine analysis is carried out to identify in the urinary system of the presence of infectious damage and to estimate the functional state of the kidneys;
MRI - study of the brain and nervous system for complications;
x-ray - test for the study of respiratory tract and nasal sinuses for the presence of infectious foci.

Treatment

There are many diseases whose first symptoms are very similar to meningitis. In any case, at the first signs, urgent hospitalization of the patient is necessary. Independent treatment can lead to negative consequences, some of which can become irreversible or lethal. This disease requires emergency care, the efficiency of which gives greater confidence in full recovery.

There are several treatments:

Fully diagnosed meningitis is impossible without taking antibiotics. More than 20% of cases, it is impossible to determine the type of pathogen and its nature, so antibiotic treatment is selected taking into account the maximum range of spectrum of all possible causative agents. The course of antibiotics is at least less than a week, at the discretion of the attending physician. The duration of the inflammatory process in the body in each individual, therefore the course is prescribed, based on the patient's characteristics. Mostly, drug therapy begins its action instantly. As an effective drugs, these antibiotics are used during meningitis: penicillin and cephalosporin. In severe disease, the disease resorts to the help of vancomycin and carbapenes.

Diuretics use diuretics to remove the swelling. Together with them is injected into the inside. The most common are diakarb and laziks.
For disintellation, colloid and crystalloid solutions fill intravenously are used.
If necessary, the patient continues treatment at home under the supervision of a doctor. The patient can take a hospital until six months.

Prevention

To prevent such a disease, it is necessary to carry out measures in childhood. First, conduct a child vaccination from all kinds of viral diseases: rubella, chickenpox, measles, hemophilia, meningococcus, pneumococcus, vapotitis. This will help to form an immunity to combat these ailments. It is necessary to be in service to people who suffered the removal of the spleen, HIV carriers or extreme travelers who visit a number of countries with particularly dangerous viral diseases.

After visiting crowded places, public toilets, transportation of hand hygiene, antiseptic precautions.

If possible, avoid contact with patients with meningitis, protect yourself from contact and communicating at close range. The patient needs to be quickly defined to the hospital to avoid infection. After contact with the patient, to carry out a preventive course with antibacterial or antiviral drugs.

When the first suspicions appear immediately seek help.

Meningitis is a severe disease, which is inflammation of the shell of the spine and brain. Despite the fact that during many years, scientists are trying to fight this disease, it takes hard, especially in children. In her course, it is at a child (especially in small) there are features that you need to know.

Despite the fact that all children can slander with meningitis in different ways, there are a number of symptoms characteristic of all its forms. The following manifestations include meningeal symptoms:

headache, strong and amplifying from external factors (loud sound, bright light);
vomiting without nausea, in no way connected with food;
(39-40 ° C), which is not reacting to conventional antipyretic drugs;
the kid can complain that he does not feel the head and back; Gently put it on the back and ask to press the chin to the chest - he will not be able to do this due to muscle's profile;
in the infants you can see the empty of a large spring, its strong tension;
the patient is more convenient to lie on the side, pushing his legs close to the stomach and thighphipped the head back;
with meningitis, a rash can begin, reaching sometimes to large bright bordeed spots throughout the body.

Since the meningeal symptom can be recognized by parents at home, at the very first manifestations it is necessary to urgently apply to the hospital. Moreover, various factors can become the causes of meningococcal infection.

Causes of disease

The causes of this disease in children can become:

viruses, bacteria, fungi, simplest;
and generic injuries - in newborns;
problems with the nasopharynx and middle ear in young children (up to a year);
prematurity;
reduced immunity;
diseases of the nervous system;
the injuries of the dorsal and brain.

Therefore, children suffering from health issues and health problems fall into the risk group. The incubation period of the disease ranges from 1 to 10 days.

Types of meningitis

Meningitis among children are divided into two groups.

1. purulent

Caused by bacterial infection. Amazes the smallest kids who did not even fulfill the year. Most often begin with strong chills, increasing temperature, vomiting and headaches. Meningkeal syndromes are very clearly pronounced.

2. Serous

The reason is a viral infection. Children most often found precisely this type of disease. It can be caused by viruses of epidemic vapotitis (), some intestinal viruses (Esno,). Amazes children from 1 to 8 years. It starts unexpectedly - with a sharp leappiece of temperatures up to 39-40 ° C and above. Such a sharp period lasts from 3 to 5 days, and at full recovery can be hoped after 2 weeks.

The outcome and the same, and other forms of the disease depends on the timely appeal to the doctor and the adequacy of treatment, but in the case of serous meningitis, there are more chances for rapid recovery without consequences. Purulent type and diagnosed, and is treated with difficulty.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis of serous children's meningitis does not represent difficulties, in contrast to the purulent, which is recognized only during laboratory surveys. In suspected meningitis, children are prescribed the following procedures:

Puncture of the spinal fluid.
General blood analysis.
Analysis of the liquor.
Bacterioscopic study of blood smears and sediment of the liquor.
Bacteriological sowing of blood, liquor, nasopharynx mucus.

There are many analyzes, all this is done to accurate diagnosis. Before taking puncture from a child, he is sent to a survey to Laura, a neurologist, neurosurgeon and hematologist to avoid consequences.

Self-treatment in the case of meningitis is unacceptable. The treatment of the child should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor in a hospital. This disease is dangerous in that the patient's condition can deteriorate at any time and become critical. Then there are emergency resuscitation activities, possible only in clinical conditions. The course of treatment involves the reception of antiviral and antibacterial agents and will depend on the form of the disease.

1. Treatment of serous meningitis

Therapy in these cases is aimed primarily to reduce intracranial pressure. Therefore, diuretic drugs are introduced to the patient, desensitizing (removable allergies) and the general feling agents, various vitamins are prescribed.

2. Treatment of purulent meningitis

Here the therapy is based solely on antibacterial drugs that are appointed only by the results of laboratory research. Intravenously, with the help of droppers, the means against intoxication and diuretic are introduced.

Antibiotics

And in that, and in another case, antibiotics of the penicillin row are prescribed: amoxyl, flossin, benzylpenicillin. They are used for treatment no longer than 5-7 days. PiRsets or Nootropyl are prescribed to restore nerve cells and blood vessels. Dexamethasone, Kenalog, hydrocortisone and methylprednisolone are therapy against inflammation.

Rehabilitation

After the course of treatment, the child is allowed to lead the usual lifestyle, since meningitis does not damage the main systems of the children's body.

Complications after meningitis

If the meningococcal infection at the child was identified in a timely manner, doctors and parents accepted all possible measures aimed at eliminating the disease, no serious consequences should be afraid. If the appeal to the hospital was not timely, with purulent forms, as well as in the presence of deviations in health, there may be such consequences as:

full deafness;
blindness;
mental and physical delay in development;
toxic shock;
outlet, brain swelling;
acute adrenal insufficiency;
cerebrids.

It is neither sad, but sometimes meningitis leads to a fatal outcome.

Prevention

Due to the fact that the treatment of children's meningitis is a complex and protracted process, the prevention of this disease is relevant. The parents of those children who fall into the risk group should be thought of it. The most effective preventive measures are:

meningitis vaccinations that make children at an early age: now various vaccines are used for this purpose - meningococcal, pneumococcal conjugation (rolled up under two years) and polysaccharide (introduced those who are already over 5 years old), trivaccine against korea rubella, measles , epidemic vapotitis protects both meningitis, as well as a vaccine against chickenpox;
chemoprophylaxis for everyone who was in contact with man, patients with meningitis;
since the disease is transmitted by air-droplet, it is necessary to refrain from contact with infection carriers using gauze bandages and respirators.

Meningitis is a dangerous and serious illness, from which you must definitely protect your child. If the circumstances turned out to be stronger, the parents need to take all measures for the speedy recovery of the kid. This can only be avoided by heavy consequences and complications of this disease.