Meningococcal disease
| Meningococcal disease | |
|---|---|
| Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman, one of the youngest survivors of the disease. The infected arms and legs had to be amputated later. | |
| Specialty | Infectious disease, critical care medicine |
| Symptoms | Flu-like symptoms, stiff neck, altered mental status, seizures, purpura |
| Complications | Gangrene leading to amputation, sepsis, brain damage, blindness, deafness |
| Prevention | Meningococcal vaccine |
| Treatment | Antibiotics such as Chemoprophylaxis |
| Prognosis | 10–20% mortality generally. 10% mortality with treatment. |
Meningococcal disease is a serious infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis, also known as meningococcus, a gram negative diplococcus. Meningococcal disease includes meningitis, meningococcal septicemia, or a combination of both, which can be life-threatening and rapidly progressive. If left untreated, the disease has a high mortality rate; however, it is preventable through vaccination. Meningitis and meningococcal sepsis are major causes of illness, death, and disability in both developed and under-developed countries.
Meningococcal disease can be transmitted to others through saliva, close contact with an infected individual by inhaling respiratory air droplets. Initial symptoms may be subtle and similar to other bacterial infection, but can quickly progress to include fever, rash, body aches, photophobia and other complications. Neisseria meningitidis colonizes a substantial proportion of the general population without issues, but it can invade the bloodstream, affecting the entire body, most notably limbs and brain, causing serious illness in a small percentage of individuals.
The global incidence of meningococcal disease is relatively low, ranging from 0.0 to 10.2 per 100,000 however cases in the United States are rising. Serotypes of the bacteria range from various countries, with serotype B accounting for most new cases worldwide. Meningococcal vaccines have sharply reduced the incidence of the disease in developed countries.
Vaccine has also shown to lessen cases of illness and their associated complications as well as death. Current vaccinations cover most of the bacterial strains that causes meningococcal disease. This has led to a decrease of incidence and burden from the disease.Treatment include supportive care, early administration of antibiotics and management of complications associated with infection. Ongoing research continues in an effort to understand specific aspects of meningococcal biology and host interactions; however, the development of improved treatments and effective vaccines is expected to depend on novel efforts by workers in many different fields.