Meningitis Research Paper

Meningitis And The Different Types of This Disease
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Introduction to Human Biology 1101-01
Prepared for: Professor Braun
January 14, 2013

Meningitis Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, which is called the meninges, and causes inflammation. This inflammation can be caused by a virus, bacteria, or other microorganisms, but can also be causes by certain types of drugs which is very rare. Meningitis is often a medical emergency because the inflammation is very close to the brain and spinal cord, and can severely damage the area. There are five different types of meningitis, which are bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic, and non-infectious
He wrote about an epidemic with people having a malignant purpuric fever, which was the first clinical description of meningococcemia with meningitis (Roos, Tunkel, & Scheld, 2004). Vieusseux believed that this fever was not passed through direct contact with people, but through “bad air” (Souza & Seguro, 2008). Due to the meningitis epidemic of 1805, there were 33 deaths in the vicinity of Switzerland. One person wrote about the epidemic of meningococcemia. Dr. Samuel Woodward in 1807 described it as having pain in the muscles, chills, short duration of strength, severe pain in the head, stomach problems, watery eyes, irregular heartbeat, and death was very close to the first onset of these symptoms (Roos, Tunkel, & Scheld, 2004). The first report to ever be written was by Anton Weichelbaum, who discovered the bacterial infection underlying meningitis and described the problems underlying meningococcus. Around the same time, Heinrich Quincke provided a early way to analyze meningitis by using lumbar puncture and using cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). Using these two techniques helped associate someone with meningitis and was well recognized by the turn of the century in 1900 (Roos, Tunkel, & Scheld,
It can cause damaging affects to the brain; can cause hearing loss, and learning disabilities (CDC, 2012). In the United States, about 4,000 causes of bacterial meningitis occur each year, with about 500 deaths. Many people carry the bacteria that cause the infection in their mouth, but usually never get sick from it. In some cases, this bacteria in your mouth can break through one’s immune system and travels through the bloodstream to the brain. This bacterium then infects the membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord. This causes swelling and inflammation (Boston Children’s Hospital, 2011). The bacterial for this type of meningitis can be contagious and usually spread through the exchange of respiratory or throat secretions, but they are not as contagious like the cold or the flu. Usually bacterial meningitis is not casually spread from person to person, but usually the person contracts it because they have a low immune system (CDC,