Vaccines help in protection against often fatal disease
The end of summer brings with it the excitement of students heading back to school. That also means large numbers of people in close proximity, and an increased risk of illnesses such as meningitis.
Meningitis is a serious inflammation of the meninges [the thin membrane covering the brain and the spinal cord] caused by an infection. While there are several forms of the disease, the most common are viral and bacterial. Bacterial meningitis is rarer, harder to treat and can be fatal.
Dr. Robert Smith II, a family medicine physician at the Willis-Knighton clinic in Haughton, said the disease spreads mainly through close contact with another person by body secretion or fluid exchange.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, “infectious diseases tend to spread more quickly where larger groups of people gather together.” That puts college students living in dormitories, among other groups of people that share close quarters, at a higher risk.
Smith said the best way to stay well and prevent getting this disease is to get the vaccine the CDC recommends and stay on schedule. There are vaccines for the three types of bacteria that cause most cases of meningitis.
The CDC recommends vaccination for all children age 11 to 12, with a booster at 16.
There is no vaccine to protect against the virus that causes most cases of viral meningitis. Practicing good hygiene, like washing hands often, covering your mouth with a tissue or sleeve when you cough or sneeze, avoiding contact with sick persons and staying home when you are ill, is advised.
Those struck by the disease typically feel very ill and experience fever and head and neck pain. “They’re both [viral and bacterial] bad,” Smith said. “It depends on your age group as to which is worse for you.”
Infants are at the highest risk for bacterial meningitis per the CDC website, while children younger than 5 years old and individuals with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to viral meningitis. The CDC indicates the rates of meningococcal disease are also elevated in teens and young adults, 16 to 23.
According to the CDC, symptoms of meningitis include fever, severe headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light and confusion. Infants display different symptoms when they become ill with the disease, including fever, irritability, poor eating, lethargy and sleepiness or trouble waking.
“You never really associate it with being a disease that could happen to you,” Bossier City resident Krystle Grindley, said. Grindley became ill with bacterial meningitis immediately after returning for her final semester as an undergraduate student at the University of New Orleans.
“That vaccine was not mandatory [in 2005],” she added.
The vaccination is now required prior to attendance at many colleges. Louisiana State University Shreveport, Southern University at Shreveport, Bossier Parish Community College, Centenary College, LSU Health Shreveport and Northwestern State all require the meningococcal immunization per the immunization forms available on their websites.
On the day of her diagnosis, Grindley said she woke up feeling ill. As the day progressed, it escalated to difficulty with her mobility and vision. “I laid on a bench [after a class] and had a splitting headache,” she said. She called her father, who had not yet returned to Shreveport, and he carried her to his car and drove her to an emergency room.
Smith said the No. 1 test to determine whether a patient is suffering from meningitis is a lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap, to collect the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the spinal column and brain. “They culture it, test it and let it grow ... and look for any bacteria or look at the cellular count, looking for signs of infection in the fluid,” he said.
“The spinal tap was one of the first tests they ordered when I got to the hospital,” Grindley said. Medical personnel also checked to whether she could bend or move her neck. Grindley was immediately hospitalized when the diagnosis of meningitis came back. She remained in the hospital for several weeks while she recovered from the disease and complications from it.
For more information, contact a physician or go to www.cdc.gov.
–Melissa Airhart
