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Meningococcal Disease

            Meningococcal Disease is a severe and deadly disease that affects approximately 3,000 people per year in the US. Ten to thirteen percent of the cases end in fatality despite receiving antibiotics early in the illness. Survivors often suffer severe complications that result in amputation due to the loss of circulation because the auditory canal becomes infected, loss of hearing, and mental retardation due to abnormal proteins in the brain. Outbreaks of meningitis have been reported throughout US college campuses. The CDC recommends that college freshman living on campus receive the meningococcal vaccine to help protect themselves.
             Meningitis is an infection of the spinal fluid (CSF) and the membranes that surround the brain and the fluid of a person's spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Viral meningitis is more common and can be caused by many different viruses but is most commonly caused by an entrovirus. Meningitis usually begins with a nasophoringial disease that is destroyed by the immune system. The patient recovers completely in about a week. In viral meningitis lymphocytes are increased from about 0-10 WBC/ml to 50-10,000 WBC/ml. In bacterial meningitis neutrophils are present. Bacterial meningitis is very severe and sometimes ends in death even with treatment. Before 1990 Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the leading cause, of meningitis, in children before the vaccine Hib was administered. The vaccine is given in three doses around two months of age. The number of infections caused by the bacteria has dropped significantly. Today, the leading cause of meningitis is Steptococcus pneumonia and Neisseria meningitidis. The bacteria Neisseria meningitidis cause about 2,000 cases of meningitis.
             In Meningococcal Disease the bacteria causes coagulation and stimulates clotting and produces a toxin. This causes small clots to form in the capillary beds that restrict oxygen resulting in the breakdown of the tissue and bone.


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