re menangitis question in article c nzn mzx crdnns crd ge com brooksby brigham nosubdomain nodomain glen w brooksby writes this past weekend a friend of mine lost his month old daughter in a matter of hours to a form of menangitis the person informing me called it nicereal meningicocis sp in retrospect the disease struck her probably sometime on friday evening and she passed away about pm on saturday the symptoms seemed to be a rash that started small and then began progressing rapidly she began turning blue eventually which was the tip off that this was serious but by that time it was too late this is all second hand info my question is is this an unusual form of menangitis how is it transmitted how does it work ie how does it kill so quickly there are many organisms viral bacterial and fungal which can cause meningitits and the course of these infections varies widely the causes of bacterial meningitis vary with age in adults pneumococcus the same organism which causes pneumococcal pneumonia is the most common cause while in children hemophilus influenzae is the most common cause what you are describing is meningitis from neisseria meningitidis which is the second most common cause of bacterial meningitis in both groups but with lower incidence in infants this organism is also called the meningococcus and is the source of the common epidemics of meningitis that occur and are popularized in the press without prompt treatment and even with it in some cases the organism typically causes death within a day this organism feared as it is is actually grown from the throats of many normal adults it can get to the meninges by different ways but blood borne spread is probably the usual case rifampin an oral antibiotic is often given to family and contacts of a case of meningococcal meningitis by the way sorry but i don t have time for a more detailed reply meningitis is a huge topic and sci med can t do it justice km
