People with meningitis caused by a virus often need only home treatment because they usually get better in about 2 weeks.
People with meningitis caused by bacteria need to be treated with antibiotics in a hospital. They are more likely to develop complications during illness ( such as prolonged fever and seizures ) and long-term complications ( such as hearing loss and vision problems ). Death can occur if bacterial meninigitis is not treated promptly.
Can meningitis be prevented?
In some cases, vaccination my prevent meningitis caused by certain organisms. Vaccines against the most common causes of bacterial meningitis ( Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis ) are recommended for people at high risk of infection. These include children and adults who have an underlying serious illness or do not have a working spleen, and older adults.
People traveling to areas where meningitis is prevalent, such as the "meningitis belt" in sub-Saharan Africa, should receive the Neisseria meningitidis vaccine.
Although college students' overall risk of meningitis is low, freshmen, especially those who live in dormitories, have a moderatly higher risk for meningococcal disease than other people of there age. College freshmen, especially those who live in dormitories, should receive information about meningococcal disease and the availability of a safe, effective vaccin.
Routine vaccination against Streptococcus pneumoniae is recommended for children age 2 and younger and for those age 2 to 4 who are at high risk of serious pneumococcal disease. Thse include childeren with no spleen, sickle cell disease or who have AIDS or HIV.
Children between the ages of 2 months and 5 years also should be vaccinated against Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria. Since its introduction in 1985, the vaccine has greatly reduced the number of cases of meningitis caused by this bacterium. For more information, see the topic Immunizations .
When I had contracted spinal meningitis there wasn't much they could do for it back then, but was fortunate that I survived it and all seemed ok. Well by the time I was in kindergarden it was discovered that I had a hearing loss which was caused by the disease. It had caused severe nerve damage to the ears due to the effects ( fevor ) cause by meningitis. My hearing loss was considered severe had a loss of about 50% in my left ear and hmm about 80% in my right. I am tone deaf. I do wear 2 hearing aides but just mainly use one for my left ear.
So doing my schooling times they had put me in Special Education class's to help me with my education. I had succeeded well in those classes so they decided to alternate me to Main Stream ( regular class ) but because of my disability it was pretty tough and did effect how I inter-acted with people on a daily bases. So there was alot of times I just kept to myself because it was much easier. Doing those times I had started getting into reading, which I realy got into it around the age of 9 when I had picked up a book call " Magic of Xanth " by Piers Anthony " which is a sci-fi fantasy book. I loved it! It was one of the most enjoyable experience's I had doing that time. So hince became a sci-fi book worm :) . I had started reading daily, doing that recourse it did me a favor and helped my reading comprehention and vocabulary, because of that there is alot of peeps that hadn't even realized I was hard-of-hearing for it had vastly improved my speech impairment. One tell-tell sign was that I seems to have gotten a certain accent which made peeps think that i'm a of " English " orgin .
Ok, enough about disabilities and what nots :) , my family consisted of a Father, Mother , a sister and myself. My father's greatest joy besides his family was hunting. We use to go camping alot while he or all of us went hunting for squirrles,groundhogs,deer,rabbit, wild turkies, and a host of other things doing what ever season it was for. He also luv'd to fish too :) . Our favorite hunting area was up in Pennsylvania, where we had a lot set up for us to pitch our tents or what nots....and each time we went there ...there was this mountain where a pipe was sticking out of for the most coldest...freshest water i've personaly have ever tried . But alas sad to say don't remember what area it was called that we went to...was pretty young then at the time...last time i've been there hmm was roughly about 20 years ago...whew where does the time go huh? Well back to about my father...He was killed in an accident back in 1983 when I was 15 years old...that is a time i'll never will forget. Was on a weekend where we was gonna go camping, had my stuff all packed into the truck and everything...but at the last moment when we was outside he stopped...looked up...and then said to me that I wasn't gonna be able to go.....needless to say when that happened I was like so mad...got my stuff out...stormed into the house...he left....this was on a Friday...so doing that weekend I had fumed about it and had very nasty thougths about him doing that time...being a kid and all ya know.../shivers...well here comes Sunday the day he was do back...we all was patiently waiting for him......and its now going into the evening time and we begin to worry about what's taking him so long.....I had kept looking out our picture window looking for his truck when I see this state trooper pull into our neighbors driveway..then backs out and pulls into our driveway......and knew something terrible had happened...well..the officer comes to our door and asked to speak to the lady of the house which at the time my mother was out in the kitchen...I begin to shake....Mother comes and speaks with the officer while we are all in the living room...the officer said he had some terrible news for us and said my Father was killed in a vehicle accident where both vehicles going 50 mph equalling a 100 mph impact.... the Officer said my Father was at fault, he had swerved into the other lane and the first vehicle had managed to avoid collision for which the second vehicle didn't that had the 3 college girls in it....We was devistated needless to say.
