The signs and symptoms of meningitis can be indicative of a variety of many viral or bacterial illnesses. The spinal variety of this infection is caused by bacteria and is spread by close contact with another harboring this potentially serious illness, while the aseptic illness is caused by a contagious, but generally, milder viral infection.

Viral meningitis is spread through person to person contact when a host is infected with the virus that causes inflammation at the meninges, the membrane that protects and covers the brain and spinal cord. No part of the population is exempt from this infection, except those inoculated for certain types of bacterial form of the illness. Increased risk for acquiring the contagious disease include skipping vaccines, living in community settings and a compromised immune system.

The course of most viral cases of this illness are usually self-limited by full function of a normal immune system. The difficulty of distinguishing viral from bacterial, however, requires medical assessment. When the cause is with a commonly acquired fungus, prescription anti-fungal therapy is necessary for curative management.

Risk management is enhanced through diligent childhood vaccines to obliterate measles, rubella and influenza, which predispose the public to acquiring meningitis during outbreaks. Drugs prescribed to transplant recipients and cancer patients suppress the immune response thereby increasing the risk of viral and bacterial infections.

Bacteria meningitis can be life-threatening if not appropriately treated with IV antibiotics in an urgent manner. This illness is more prevalent in very young children under 2 years old and adults over 50. Susceptibility is increased if the patient has an infectious illness within the lungs, ear, nose, throat or sinuses that spreads to the meninges. A head injury or concussion can provide a direct entry point for bacterial meningeal infections.

Meningeal infection shares many classically symptomatic hallmarks of influenza. Onset of symptoms, following exposure, is usually rapid. Common indications include variable fever with chills and sweating, severe headache, listlessness, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea with vomiting and stiff neck. Signs of CNS involvement are extreme sensitivity to light along with nonreactive pupils of different size, irritability, confusion, sleepiness progressing to altered consciousness.

Bacterial infiltration can sometimes be distinguished from viral with additional signals that herald the seriousness of this infection. Often, the patient will have recently recovered from a sore throat with indications of a respiratory infection prior to the onset of symptoms suggestive of meningitis. The appearance of a red to purplish skin rash points toward a definitive diagnosis for bacterial meningitis.

Ill newborns will develop a significantly elevated temperature, unusual irritability and inconsolable crying. Activity levels may reduce to abnormally sluggish demeanor with poor feeding. The soft spot, known as the fontenel, at the top of the skull may bulge and the baby's body and neck may exhibit rigidity.

Since the signs and symptoms of meningitis are similar in both forms of the illness, it is imperative that the patient seek medical help without delay. Determination of the specific cause for the infection will ensure that the patient is properly treated for an uncomplicated, full recovery.