Doctor of Medical Sciences, a specialist in especially dangerous infections, an immunologist Vladislav Zhemchugov on July 22 listed the ways to get infected with meningitis.
For this disease, the immunologist pointed out, inflammation of the meninges is characteristic. In this case, meningitis is divided into viral and bacterial.
“The first is viral, the so-called serous. It is light, carried mainly by the fecal-oral route. The virus lives in hot weather in closed stagnant water bodies; this is one of the varieties of intestinal flu. Severe meningitis is purulent and bacterial. The microbe is transmitted by airborne droplets, lives in the nasopharynx, and in most people it does not manifest itself in any way, while coughing and sneezing a person infects those with whom he communicates, ”Zhemchugova radio quotes Sputnik.
As the specialist added, the disease can occur in the form of a runny nose and sore throat, but this happens less frequently. In addition, the causative agent of meningitis can penetrate the brain, causing inflammation with loss of consciousness, convulsions, spasms, and even lead to disability and death, the immunologist emphasized.
Meanwhile, meningitis is a rare disease, so there is no need to administer the vaccine everywhere. It is used according to epidemic indications, while large epidemics are rare.
“Most often, bacterial meningitis occurs in organized groups, where there is a high density, people have a lot of contact, and there is not very good ventilation in the rooms. It can be schools, colleges. If a microbe infects a person who is predisposed to inflammation, to a disease with clinical manifestations, then an outbreak begins. Employees of Rospotrebnadzor begin to examine people, take swabs from the nasopharynx, identify those who have been in contact, and observe those who have been in contact for two to three weeks. All contacts are vaccinated, and this is how the outbreak is extinguished, ”Zhemchugov said.
Earlier, on July 18, a pediatrician, infectious disease specialist, associate professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases in Children of the Russian National Research Medical University. N.I. Pirogov of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Candidate of Medical Sciences Ivan Konovalov told Izvestia that viral meningitis in children, with timely assistance provided, usually responds well to treatment. The disease begins as a common respiratory infection, but then the symptoms can worsen.
Meanwhile, on July 7, Pavel Volchkov, an immunologist and head of the MIPT genomic engineering laboratory, said that the meningococcal vaccine may not work if the pathogen is high in doses or the strain is mismatched. Vaccines work against specific strains, but even if the strain matches, the vaccine may not work, the biologist warned.
Meningococcal disease is an acute infectious disease, its first sign is acute nasopharyngitis, or inflammation of the nasopharynx. It proceeds with the subsequent development of meningococcemia and purulent meningitis.
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