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General health

what causes meningitis?

15 replies

bubblepop · 26/07/2006 15:48

i was watching that programme 'how clean is your house' a bit ago and remember them taking a swab from a particularly dirty house, and they found a bacteria that they said could cause meningitis.

this got me thinking...an aquaintence of mine, well her dd had meningitis as a baby, not sure what strain. her house was really filthy,she never cleaned it, it was really bad, plus she had a couple of large dogs and a few cats in there.when the child was recovering(so lucky) in hospital, she had to fill out a questionaire, asking them about their lifestyle,and living arrangements, whether they had pets, central heating and so on. i was just wondering whether their is really a connection, does anybody else know? i thought it was carried by humans in the nasal passages..

OP posts:

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waterfalls · 26/07/2006 15:53

I have read that the bacteria that breed in warm milk can cause meningitis, that is why it is so important to not use after 1 hour.

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anthonykiedisbitontheside · 26/07/2006 15:55

Oh i'm not always very strict about only keeping milk for an hour, ds has his bottles at room temp and I only add tap water and milk when he is ready for them is this as bad?

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waterfalls · 26/07/2006 15:59

No water at room temp is fine, you do the same as I used too, thats fine.

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expatinscotland · 26/07/2006 16:02

there are different types of bacteria which can cause it, such as meningicoccal or pneumococcal. a virus can also cause it.

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Jimjams2 · 26/07/2006 16:05

Meningitis bacteria aren't that uncommon. Getting meningitis is rare because usually our immune systems cope with it.It's been suggested that men C is common in students (compared to other groups) because they go away from home, live in crowded accomodation, don't eat properly, drink too much, too many late nights etc etc. So their immune system takes a hammering.

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Jimjams2 · 26/07/2006 16:05

viral meningitis is more common after an infection such as mumps, and is not usually serious (although unpleasant).

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expatinscotland · 26/07/2006 16:09

my sister had viral meningitis when she was 20. she developed it about 10 days after we came back from a trip to mexico, but no one really knows how she got it.

she was in hospital for about a week, but she recovered fully.

keep in mind that our own skin has bacteria on it, as do our guts.

it's everywhere.

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MrsBadger · 26/07/2006 16:14

Bacteria that breed in warm milk much more likely to cause gut infection (ie D&V) than meningitis.

The meningitis bacteria (Neisseria meningitidis) only hangs out on humans (typically up noses) and is unlikely to survive long in the environment.

Very good fact sheet here

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JennT · 26/07/2006 16:38

I have just recovered from viral meningitis. It was HORRIBLE. I spent 6 nights in a French hospital, 18 hours of which on a trolley in casualty. I didn't eat for 48 hours and then when I did the food was pants.

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SaintGeorge · 26/07/2006 16:55

Viral is the pits and very scary, especially if not diagnosed straight away.

Also can have after effects - I still have really killer headaches (different from my regular migraines) 5 years afterwards. I know other people who have experienced the same.

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expatinscotland · 26/07/2006 16:56

true, SG, it took them about a day to figure out what my sister had. b/c she'd been in mexico a while, she was tested for everything under the sun.

she has had no long-lasting effects however. this was 20 years ago.

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JennT · 26/07/2006 17:03

I got mine through sinusitis. It must have been a great 'doorway' to the central nervous system. I had a lumber puncture within hours of being admitted which was good and put on the antibiotics after about 12 hours. It was only when the lp came back as negative for bacterial men. that I was allowed off the meningitis antibiotic. I still had to have iv fluids for dehydration from all the vomiting, and for the mega bad sinusitis.

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SaintGeorge · 26/07/2006 17:59

I spent 12 hours at home in agony because the doc kept saying it was just a migraine. It was only when my mum visited and thought I had suffered a stroke that the doc (on his 2nd visit) called an ambulance. Then another 12 hrs in A&E (not so painful after morphine) until they decided what it was.

Acyclovir (sp? anti-viral drug) is brilliant stuff though .

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mixedemotions123 · 27/07/2006 17:21

I was told that the reason that I had viral meningitis was because I was really run down, not getting enough sleep due to toddler etc. I don;t know if that was true. Yes it is bloody nasty though. Sometimes even now if I get a really banging head and feel icy cold i get panicky.