Meningitis Description

Meningitis is a dangerous infection that affects the fluid surrounding a person’s brain and spinal cord. The infection can either be viral or bacterial, and may lead to sepsis - a dangerous blood infection. Knowing which form a person has contracted is very important. Viral meningitis is usually less severe and often clears up on it’s own, whereas bacterial meningitis can be very severe and can result in brain damage, learning disability, hearing loss, or even death.

The bacterium that causes bacterial meningitis lives in the back of the nose and throat and up to 25% of the U.S. population can be carriers at any given time. This bacteria causes meningitis once it gets into the bloodstream and makes its way to the fluid in the brain and spinal cord. Sneezing, coughing, and kissing spread meningitis, but it should not be regarded as an air-borne illness. The bacteria cannot live for very long outside the human body.

Every year approximately 2,500 people are infected with meningococcus, the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, in the United States. The highest risk of meningitis occurs in infants less than 1 year of age. About 1 in 10 people who contract bacterial meningitis do not survive. Of those that do survive, another 11-19% lose their arms or legs, become deaf, have problems with their nervous system, become mentally retarded, or suffer seizures or strokes.

Although anyone can get meningitis, it is most common in infants less than one year and people with certain medical conditions. This is why preventing the disease through the use of meningococcal vaccine is important for people at highest risk. Menactra (a meningococcal vaccine licensed in 2005) works to protect about 90% of those who get it. It is recommended for all children at their routine preadolescent visit (11 to 12 years of age).

If you have a child approximately 2-10 years of age, he/she may qualify for a clinical research study of an investigational vaccine for meningococcal disease. The purpose of this clinical research study is to investigate the safety of the meningococcal vaccine and the measure the immune response to the vaccine when given in combination with the licensed Menactra vaccine (for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) in healthy children between 2-10 years old.

Call us for more information about meningitis or to see if you qualify for a study near you.