36 Meningitis
- dura: durable, cover skull
- arachnoid/pia: leptomeninges
Symptoms and Diagnosis
- fever from inflammation
- headache from inflammation of meninges
- photophobia: bright lights bothersome
- spinal cords ends at conus medullaris, L1-L2
- does not pierce pia
- check when first put needle in
- measures CSF pressure
- normal should be sterile with very few cells
Complications
- hydrocephalus: scarring of arachnoid villi ability to absorb fluid
- hearing loss: scarring of nerve
- seizures: scarring of cx surface
- bacterial: more exudates/pus, more scarring
Meningitis Causes and Treatment
- listeria: poor cell mediated immunity, children and elderly
- S. pneumo most common from children to elderly
Bacterial Causes
- listeria: poor cell mediated immunity, children and elderly
- S. pneumo most common from children to elderly
- encapsulated organism: asplenic and sickle cell high risk
- meningococcemia: bacteremia with meningitis
- hypotension
- droplet precaution: wear a mask
- almost never cause meningitis anymore
- tumbling motility: instead of swimming around, tumbles from side to side in petri dish
- pasteurization: warm milk up and cool off to kill bacteria
- can't complain of headache, photophobia
- failing to thrive symptoms, do LP to rule out meningitis
Viral Causes
- like cold of spinal canal
Encephalitis
- if these symptoms present: encephalitis, not meningitis
- measles: subacute encephalitis years later
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