Meningitis Headaches

What is meningitis?

Severe headache is an almost invariable symptom of meningitis. So what actually is meningitis? It is a life-threatening condition whereby the membranes covering the brain is infected or inflamed. While in some cases, there may be a history of exposure to meningitis or a history of middle ear or other infection, very often there may even be no such history.  Besides symptoms of a severe headache, other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, fever, pain and stiffness in the neck.

Viruses and bacteria account for most cases of meningitis, although many microorganisms can cause meningitis. Viral meningitis is usually self-limiting and rarely require hospitalization while bacterial meningitis is frequently fatal requiring urgent and immediate hospitalization and medication.

With early diagnosis and treatment, the patient usually recovers entirely while unrecognized and untreated meningitis can lead to complications such as seizures, deafness, mental disabilities, coma and may even cause the patient to pass away. The diagnosis of suspected meningitis case is usually confirmed with a spinal tap.

Treatments for meningitis varies depending on the causes.  Bacterial meningitis are usually treated with antibiotics, fungal meningitis treated with antifungals while viral meningitis are managed via observation and supportive care.