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Pharmacy Links

CHILDREN’S MENINGITIS: PRECAUTIONS AND TREATMENT

April 28, 2009

Precautions

• The unnecessary use of antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection may mask the onset of meningitis.

• A child who is suffering from exhaustion or extreme weakness, and who has fever and a stiff neck is in danger and should be taken to a medical facility immediately.

Medical treatment

Your doctor will take the child’s complete medical history and perform a thorough examination. The doctor will then order a spinal tap. Spinal fluid will be examined for cells, bacteria, and abnormal chemical components. This is the only way to differentiate between meningitis and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), which is also a life-threatening disease. The doctor will also require cultures of the spinal fluid, blood, and nose and throat mucus. Immediately following the spinal tap and cultures your doctor will administer intravenous fluids and antibiotics. If the infecting organism is unknown, the doctor may put the child on two antibiotics at the same time. If the meningitis turns out to be caused by a virus, no antibiotics will be used, since viruses do not respond to antibiotics.

If your child has been in contact with a person with meningococcal or Haemophilus influenzae meningitis, your doctor may choose to administer penicillin, sulphonamide, or rifampin by mouth prevent your child from developing meningitis.

Vaccines against meningococci, pneumococci, and Haemophilius influenzae are available, but they are still in the experimental stage and not currently recommended for general use.

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