Acute purulent meningitis. Symptoms, treatment, prevention

Acute purulent meningitis is an inflammatory process in the membranes of the brain and spinal cord caused by bacteria (meningococci, streptococci, staphylococcus, pneumococcus and others). He is very dangerous, as the epidemic of meningitis is accompanied by great mortality.

Factors that precede the development of meningitis:

• Inflammatory processes in the upper respiratory tract;
• Decreased immunity;
• Various injuries;
• Congenital malformations.

Acute purulent meningitis - symptoms

The first manifestation of this disease is a sharp increase in temperature to high values (40 degrees and above). After raising the temperature, the patient begins a runny nose with a small amount of discharge, a strong chill, a headache, and vomiting.

To accurately determine the diagnosis, the patient is checked for rigidity of the occipital muscles - it is impossible to bend the patient's head to the chest. Also, the presence of a positive Kerning symptom is checked (the patient can not unbend the leg in the knee joint if it is bent in the hip) and Brudzinsky - while the leg involuntarily bends or unbends in the knee and hip joints with passive extension or flexion of the other leg. All this is accompanied by severe pain.

Acute purulent meningitis is also manifested by the presence under the skin and on mucous hemorrhages - spots of dark brown color ranging in size from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters. They can cover completely the arm, leg, etc.

Further, strong convulsions, nonsense, psychomotor agitation are added , consciousness is disturbed. Subsequently, excitation is replaced by oppression up to coma.

Diagnostics.

1. The appearance of a characteristic picture of the disease.
2. Presence of meningeal symptoms.
3. Presence of changes in cerebrospinal fluid. It is obtained by lumbar puncture. Under pressure, a yellowish-green liquid flows out of the needle. With microscopy, an increase in the number of cells up to 1 μl is found with the advantage of leukocytes.

Acute purulent meningitis - treatment

1. Immediate hospitalization of the patient in the infectious disease department.
2. Purpose of antibacterial therapy. The main antibiotics used in the treatment are cephalosporins (cefotaxime, ceftriaxone and others).
3. Together with the course of antibiotics, a course of hormones is prescribed, as well as prednisolone or hydrocortisone.
4. Necessarily appoint infusion therapy in the form of solutions of salts, glucose and add diuretics.
5. With convulsive syndrome appoint seduxen, Valium, Relanium.

Prevention of meningitis

To date, the causative agents of meningitis can be found everywhere. Nobody is immune from infection. Now we have developed an inoculation, which is designed for vaccination from 23 pathogens of various diseases, including meningitis. This vaccine is Pnevmo 23. It is recommended to use it from 2 years. Also now, vaccination against hemophilic rod was included in the national vaccination schedule . It is administered to children in three months, and revaccination - in six months and a year.