Couple; a child suddenly has a high fever, headache, is drowsy, nauseous and has a painful and stiff net. There is a good chance that the child has meningitis. What is this, how do you get it and what are the symptoms?
Meningitis
Meningitis can be caused by all kinds of microorganisms. The membranes around the brain and spinal cord are affected. There are 2 types of meningitis, one caused by bacteria and one caused by viruses.
Bacterial meningitis
Bacterial meningitis is therefore caused by a bacterium and can be a complication of a normal middle ear infection.
Incubation period
The incubation period is the time between the actual infection and the appearance of the first symptoms. During this time, an infectious disease can already be contagious. In bacterial meningitis, the incubation period is 2 to 10 days.
Phenomena
Common symptoms of bacterial meningitis are;
- Sudden high fever,
- Headache,
- Drowsiness,
- photophobia,
- Nausea,
- Neck stiffness,
- Diaper pain (babies start to cry when they are lifted by the legs during changing).
Contamination and consequences
Bacterial meningitis is transmitted via droplet infection, for example through coughing. About 1 in 10 people carry the bacteria that causes meningitis, without knowing it because a carrier is not sick themselves.
Exclusion from daycare, playgroup or school
With some infectious diseases, a child is not welcome at a daycare center, playgroup or school for a while because of the high risk of infection. The GGD (Municipal Health Care) has drawn up rules for this. It is not useful to exclude a child with bacterial meningitis, because the child will probably not come anyway because it is too ill to visit the children’s center.
Report to the GGD
For some infectious diseases, a treating physician is obliged to report to the GGD that a child has this infectious disease. Meningitis does not need to be reported to the GGD.
Viral meningitis
Viral meningitis is caused by a virus.
Incubation period
The incubation period is the time between the actual infection and the appearance of the first symptoms. During this time, an infectious disease can already be contagious. Viral meningitis has an incubation period of approximately 7 to 14 days.
Phenomena
Common symptoms of viral meningitis are;
- Fever,
- Muscle strain,
- Headache,
- Nausea,
- Vomit,
- photophobia,
- Neck stiffness,
- Diaper pain (babies start to cry when they are lifted by the legs during changing).
Contamination and consequences
Depending on the type of virus, viral meningitis is caused by droplet infection, for example through coughing, or through hand-mouth contact with contaminated feces.
Exclusion from daycare, playgroup or school
With some infectious diseases, a child is not welcome at a daycare center, playgroup or school for a while because of the high risk of infection. The GGD (Municipal Health Care) has drawn up rules for this. It is not useful to exclude a child with viral meningitis, because the child will probably not come anyway because it is too sick to visit the children’s center.
Report to the GGD
For some infectious diseases, a treating physician is obliged to report to the GGD that a child has this infectious disease. Meningitis does not need to be reported to the GGD.