meningitis

[k8bailey]

OH just had a call from his boss saying that he had just got out of hospital, he has meningitis. He didn't say which strain but my OH was working with him on friday when he was quite ill.

How is meningitis spread? I'm a bit worried as we have 2 small kids.

[4getmenot]

Its not infectious
if you google it its says

Meningitis may occur as the result of several non-infectious causes: spread of cancer to the meninges (malignant meningitis)[18] and certain drugs (mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and intravenous immunoglobulins).[19] It may also be caused by several inflammatory conditions such as sarcoidosis (which is then called neurosarcoidosis), connective tissue disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, and certain forms of vasculitis (inflammatory conditions of the blood vessel wall) such as Behçet's disease.[2] Epidermoid cysts and dermoid cysts may cause meningitis by releasing irritant matter into the subarachnoid space.[2][14] Mollaret's meningitis is a syndrome of recurring episodes of aseptic meningitis; it is now thought to be caused by herpes simplex virus type 2. Rarely, migraine may cause meningitis, but this diagnosis is usually only made when other causes have been eliminated

[k8bailey]

thats wierd, been thinking about a girl I know of and when she had it her bf, best mate and family were immunised, same thing happened when a guy had it when I was in school, the whole class had a jab

[4getmenot]

well google again then and you may get this

http://backandneck.ab.../f/vmencontagious.htm

[jackthehat]

Viral meningitis - horrid but neither life-threatening nor contagious.
Bacterial meningitis - Dangerous......

If the boss has been discharged so quickly from hospital without any sort of medication, etc............it will probably have been the former.

[pretty_snowdrop]

I remember when i was a uni, someone had meningitis and we all had to get checked out.
I think there are several types and strains and the really nasty types are not infectious. I would call the doctors tomorrow and speak to someone to put your mind at rest but i'm sure you will be fine. x

[k8bailey]

hi thanks for replies....every website I've looked at says something different.

Don't know how long boss was in hosp for, could've been all over the weekend, he was v.ill with headache and stiff neck on fri. Was discharged this evening with some strong antibiotics. Hopefully will get more info from boss' brother tomorrow.

Night all

[LoftyLottie]

It is infectious. There are two types, viral and bacterial. 8 kids got it at my sons school. All his his age group. The whole school was vaccinated. Viral is not as bad as bacterial. It was bacterial meningitis actually.

[LoftyLottie]

http://www.nhs.uk/Con...tis/Pages/Causes.aspx


This gives a lot of information

[LoftyLottie]

Both types are contagious actually jth, although viral is not so serious.

[jackthehat]

I think that also 'depends' Lottie.

When I had viral meningitis, there was no great concern as to whether my son, partner or workmates had been exposed...

[Sqad]

It is contagious and infectious, which doesn't necessarily mean that you would develop the disease should you be in contact with a person who has the disease.

[k8bailey]

thanks again for links & replies everyone....can't see in any of those links if there is an incubation period. OH was working with boss on fri while boss was ill, but OH seems fine - does that mean that OH and colleagues won't get it?

[jackthehat]

Why doesn't your OH ask his boss for full details directly ?
You may get a better picture of how much you should be fretting.

[LoftyLottie]

Just looked it up. The incubation period is usually 2-10 days for bacterial meningitis. And on another site is says that the incubation period for all mengingitis falls between 2 days and 2 weeks.

[LoftyLottie]

My son sat on a coach for 4 hours next to a boy who went down with meningitis a couple of days afterwards. Whilst on the coach the boy was sneezing and showing signs of a bad cold. My son didn't get it. The day the boy was taken to hospital was the day the school broke up for the Christmas holidays. I worried all holiday - wasn't the best Christmas. The kids all had to be immunised.

This was at a boarding school, one of the big risk areas for meningitis.

Don't worry too much. Just be aware.

[BeckiW]

There are many different types of meningitis and some are considered contagious and some aren't. You can find a lot of good information on the Meningitis Research Foundation website http://www.meningitis.org/awareness-education or you can call their freephone helpline on 08088003344.

[k8bailey]

boss is off work sick, OH hasn't been working there long and doesn't want to call him but boss' brother works with OH too and says none of boss' family were immunised....I've almost certainly been worrying over nothing but with 2 kids under 3, you probably can't be too careful - anyway, I'm well aware of the symptoms now at least.