Meningitis in El Salvador
Cultural and Disease Paper - Meningitis
University of Phoenix
HCS 245 Introduction to Health and Diseases
MU11BHA06
November 02, 2011
Cultural and Disease Paper - Meningitis It was mid-February 1968 in a city in the central region of El Salvador, two men sitting on the street curve outside the doctor’s office. One of them was the doctor himself; the other man was a poor steel worker whom two years earlier lost his second child to bronchitis. The doctor said to my father the choices you have are to cry for a few months or years after the death of your first born or to cry for an entire life. Because your son can grows up deft, mute, or mentally retarded as a consequences of the experimental surgery the surgeons want to perform on him child. That was the conversation the doctor and my father had some 44 years ago, after the doctors in San Salvador diagnosed me with meningitis at the age of three years and five months. The doctors in San Salvador were pressing my father to consent to an experimental brain surgery, rather than the antibiotics treatment. My father opted for the antibiotics treatment instead. Three months inpatient and two years follow-up was length of my battle with the disease. Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is also referred to as spinal meningitis. Of the many causes that can lead to Meningitis, usually is bacteria or viruses, but meningitis also can be caused by physical injury, cancer, or certain drugs. The severity of illness and the treatment for meningitis differ, depending on the cause. Thus it is important to know the specific cause of meningitis. Meningitis is manifested in four types, Bacterial meningitis, Viral Meningitis, Fungal Meningitis, and
University of Phoenix
HCS 245 Introduction to Health and Diseases
MU11BHA06
November 02, 2011
Cultural and Disease Paper - Meningitis It was mid-February 1968 in a city in the central region of El Salvador, two men sitting on the street curve outside the doctor’s office. One of them was the doctor himself; the other man was a poor steel worker whom two years earlier lost his second child to bronchitis. The doctor said to my father the choices you have are to cry for a few months or years after the death of your first born or to cry for an entire life. Because your son can grows up deft, mute, or mentally retarded as a consequences of the experimental surgery the surgeons want to perform on him child. That was the conversation the doctor and my father had some 44 years ago, after the doctors in San Salvador diagnosed me with meningitis at the age of three years and five months. The doctors in San Salvador were pressing my father to consent to an experimental brain surgery, rather than the antibiotics treatment. My father opted for the antibiotics treatment instead. Three months inpatient and two years follow-up was length of my battle with the disease. Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is also referred to as spinal meningitis. Of the many causes that can lead to Meningitis, usually is bacteria or viruses, but meningitis also can be caused by physical injury, cancer, or certain drugs. The severity of illness and the treatment for meningitis differ, depending on the cause. Thus it is important to know the specific cause of meningitis. Meningitis is manifested in four types, Bacterial meningitis, Viral Meningitis, Fungal Meningitis, and
References: CDC. (2009, 06 24). Meningitis Home Page About the Disease-Risk Factors of Meningitis. Retrieved 10 31, 2011, from www.cdc.gov: http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/about/index.html CDC. (2009, 08 06). Meningitis Home Page About the Disease-Transmission. Retrieved 11 02, 2011, from www.cd.gov: http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/about/risk-factors.html CDC. (2010, 05 12). CDC Home Page. Retrieved 10 31, 2011, from www.cdc.gov: http://www.cdc.gov/ncird/index.html">National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases CDC. (2010, 03 16). Meningitis Home Page About the Disease-Prevention. Retrieved 11 02, 2011, from www.cdc.gov: http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/about/index.html Oleg O. Bilukha, M. P. (2005). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - Prevention and Control of Meningococcal Disease . Atlanta, GA : CDC.