Meningococcal disease is a rare but very serious illness that usually appears as meningitis or septicaemia. Meningitis means an inflammation of the protective coverings of the brain and spinal cord. Septicaemia means blood poisoning, which is a more widespread infection throughout the body. Meningococcal disease is caused by bacteria called meningococci. There are a number of different groups of meningococci.
How serious is meningococcal disease?
Although meningococcal disease is uncommon, it is a very serious disease. The infection can develop very quickly, and can be fatal in about ten per cent of cases. If infection is diagnosed early enough and the right antibiotics are given quickly, most people make a complete recovery.
About a quarter of people who recover experience after-effects. Some of the more common after-effects include headaches, deafness in one or both ears, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), blurring and double vision, aches and stiffness in the joints, and learning difficulties. Most of these problems get better with time.
Who catches meningococcal disease?
Meningococcal disease can occur at any age, but babies and children less than five years of age are most at risk. Teenagers and young adults aged 15�24 years are also at increased risk.For people who become sick, the average time between being infected and becoming ill is about three to five days, but can be up to seven days. Sometimes small outbreaks occur affecting more than one person, but usually each case is unrelated to any others.
Persons over the age of two years with a damaged (or no) spleen are at greater risk of meningococcal disease, and should be vaccinated against the disease. People who get meningococcal disease are more than three times as likely to be in close contact with smokers. Recent viral illness (especially influenza) is also more common. Avoiding smoky and dusty places might also help to prevent infection.
What are the symptoms?
Someone with meningococcal disease will become very ill, usually feeling sicker than they have ever felt before. There are many symptoms of meningococcal disease, although a few are especially important. Most cases may have only a few of these symptoms, and they hardly ever happen all at once.
The symptoms include:
In infants and young children:
Fever.
Disinterest in feeding.
Irritability.
Extreme tiredness or floppiness.
Dislike of being handled.
Vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
Turning away from light.
Drowsiness.
Convulsions or twitching.
Rash of red-purple pinprick spots or larger bruises.
In older children and adults:
Headache.
Photophobia (dislike of bright lights).
Fever.
Vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
Neck stiffness or aching.
Backache.
Joint pains and sore muscles.
General malaise, off food.
Drowsiness, confusion.
Rash of red-purple pinprick spots or larger bruises.
Young children may not complain of symptoms, so fever, pale or blotchy complexion, vomiting, lethargy (blank staring, inactivity, hard to wake, or poor feeding) and rash are important signs. Signs and symptoms sometimes appear very quickly, and people with meningococcal disease can get much worse within a few hours. In meningococcal septicaemia, a rash is always a very important sign. The rash can appear anywhere on the body.
The disease is difficult to spread. The germs cannot live for more than a few seconds outside a human body, therefore they cannot be picked up from water supplies, swimming pools, buildings or factories. Only regular close prolonged household and intimate contact spread the bacteria. Close contacts in residential accommodation may be at greater risk of meningococcal disease.
