Meningitis- What it is, what causes it, what to look for and how we treat it. The information you need to know about this serious illness, from your GPs - March 2026

[Bell] Today we are talking about something very serious and potentially life-threatening and sadly sometimes life-ending. Yes, today we are talking about meningitis, a condition that is thankfully rarer than it used to be, but one that unfortunately can still be as devastating as ever. Meningitis is caused by an infection and because it infects and affects the layer close to and surrounding the brain and spinal cord, the effects are potentially very serious. And because the infection can lead to sepsis and septicemia, unfortunately the infection can rapidly spread and lead to death. This time we discuss meningitis, the serious condition that everybody should know about. We talk about what causes it, what symptoms to look out for, how it can be treated and some of the things that can be done to try and prevent it. That's all coming up in this episode of Coffee Break. [Music] I'm Dr. Jeff Ham and I'm Dr. Sam again me. And this is season one of Coffee Break. We are two general practitioners from beautiful dogs that are in the United Kingdom and we are happy to have you here with us for another Coffee Break. In our show we give you helpful and useful health and wellness information in short and easily digestible episodes. That's right and hopefully in a fun and enjoyable way as well. In today's Vat Sea of Health information we hope to be your trusty island of reliable and impartial independent, unbiased information. And we may even have some guests with us to help. So sit back and enjoy, pay Coffee Break. [Music] Okay so let's start with what is meningitis? Well meningitis is the inflammation of the protective membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord and these are called the meninges. It can affect anybody but it's most common in babies, young children, teenagers and young adults. Yes, absolutely. And it is very serious if it's not treated quickly isn't it? Yeah. And can cause life threatening sepsis and unfortunately permanent damage to anything really that involves nerves particularly the brain or wider nervous system. Should we look at what causes it? So usually it's caused by an infection and this could be viral, bacterial, sometimes a parasite or a fungus. The commonest form is a virus and bacterial causes are less common and the parasitic and fungal causes are very rare but they do happen and we'll come on to look at the main contributing organisms in a bit with me. Okay so we've talked about what is meningitis and what causes it but what are the symptoms that meningitis? Well given that the inflammation is of the layer around the brain and the spinal cord, this swelling causes precious symptoms on the brain and on the nervous system and this is what causes the majority of the symptoms that we see meningitis. So commonly we look at things like nausea, headache, stiff neck, a dislike of bright lights, drowsiness or unresponsiveness, confusion and sometimes even seizures. That's right. And then the thing that can be quite confusing early on or during it is that it can present with some non-specific infection symptoms, carnival signs. So for example a high temperature at the appearance of a rash which will come on to muscle or joint pains, the feeling that you're breathing is different maybe you're breathing more quickly and feeling cold hands and feet and generally achy. And although meningitis can affect anyone as we've said it's more common in babies, children and young people, soon babies and infants sometimes their presentation can be slightly different and they can present with high fever, constant crying, they can be very sleepy or irritable. They can have trouble waking from sleep and sometimes it's just not really as active as normal as their bit sluggish, they don't wake to eat, they can have really poor feeding, they can be vomiting. And again, stiffness in the neck but sometimes just the body in general can be generally stiff and in young babies the soft spot at the top of their head can sometimes bulge as a reflection of the high pressure. Absolutely and sometimes that rash which will come on to you can say maybe the time to talk about the rache. So let's talk about the rash. So a lot of people think about rash associated with meningitis, actually not all cases of meningitis will develop a rash or certainly won't present with it. And therefore not having a rash does not exclude meningitis. And it starts as actually quite non-specific red pin points that then turn into larger, deeper red or purple blockchairs, doesn't it? The classic test, a lot of people may have heard of but just to remind people is the the glass test what we're trying to do is blanch the skin. Most if not all benign rash as they will blanch when you apply pressure to the skin as in the skin will look normal color or the rash will disappear when you apply pressure. And the glass is a way of seeing that quite clearly. So you press the glass, a clear glass against the rash. If the rash does not disappear when looking through this is a non-blanching rash and should be class as a medical emergency particularly if somebody is unwell, feeling unwell at the same time. And further advice immediately sorted. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so to the matter of the causes as we've said viral causes are the most common causes of meningitis. And thankfully in most cases viral causes of meningitis aren't as serious as other causes. And most cases of viral meningitis are treated therefore supportively. Antipatics don't work in these cases. The viruses that we see that can cause viral meningitis include things like entero viruses. And these are actually the common causes of viral meningitis. These are common sense some are an all term and these actually normally cause a bit of a mild stomach infection. There's also the mumps virus and things like herpes simplex virus which normally just causes colds or these can also lead to viral meningitis. Bacteria meningitis as we've said is thankfully less common but what are some of the bacteria that cause it so? So the most important bacteria we hear about is the meningococcal bacteria. And there are several different types. There are letters A, B, C, W, X, Y and Z. And it's a. The actual organism is niceria meningitis. Most often it starts or causes an upper respiratory tract infection. But then these particular organisms have an ability to quite quickly enter the bloodstream and then can cause meningococcal meningitis. Other bacteria, pneumococcal bacteria so one people may have heard of that causes pneumonia, streptococcus pneumonia, more often causes pneumonia or an ear or a sinus infection but can cause meningitis. And hemophilus. Hemophilus influenza type B. This used to be the leading cause of meningitis in children. But thankfully the immunization against this particular bacteria has effectively managed to decrease this as the cause. Okay, so how is meningitis spread? Well, like most viruses and most bacteria it's spread through context. So sneezing, coughing, kissing for them, causes of meningitis. The infection is usually spread by people who carry these viruses or bacteria in their nose or throat but aren't usually all with it themselves. So what we call carriers. And the infection can also be spread by somebody who has meningitis. This is less common and the majority of cases are actually through contact with carriers who aren't and well. And it's important to say you can get meningitis more than once. Again, it depends on the cause. So you can get viral meningitis. It's your meningitis but you can get meningitis more than once. So who is most at risk than meningitis? Well, in theory anybody could get meningitis, couldn't they? But there are some common groups of people. So babies in young children, teenagers and young adults, the older population and people with a weakened immune system so that might be people having chemotherapy or, for example, have HIV. So what happens if it is suspected you might have meningitis, what should happen next? Well, really importantly, if you or someone you care for might have meningitis, you must seek immediate medical attention in the UK called 999 immediately renambulance. As we said, meningitis is a medical emergency. At test, have to be carried out in the hospital to confirm the diagnosis, check what the condition is and also we look at viral bacterial cause. The treatments are different. You may need to have blood tests, things like a lumbar puncture where they take a small amount of fluid from the space around your spine and most likely a CT scan. And as I said, because bacterial meningitis can be very serious, treatment with antibodies actually usually starts before a diagnosis is confirmed. And if it's later shown to be viral, they tend to stop the antibiotics. Indeed. Now treatment is. hospital will be recommended in all cases of bacterial meningitis using specific antibiotics and then with close monitoring. And severe viral meningitis will also be treated with supportive treatment in hospital winter. And the treatment includes, as I said, antibiotics given through a drip into the vein, fluids to help the person stay hydrated. And sometimes people need oxygen and other special medicines including steroids in certain situations. Yeah, and people with meningitis, most likely need to send hospital for a few days. Certainly cases treatment can be needed for several weeks. And even after you go home, it's going to be a while before you feel completely about normal, isn't it? You're normally able to go home from hospital if you have a mild meningitis or if the test shows that it's a viral infection. These types of meningitis tend to get better on their own without causing any serious problems. But you definitely need plenty of rest. And you need time to flow as pain killers to help with you recovering. Yes. Absolutely. So how do we prevent the spread of infection? Well, the actual risk for someone with meningitis spreading the infection to other people is generally low. But if there is somebody in your vicinity that is at a higher risk of infection, it makes appropriate sense for them to consider having what we call precautionary or prophylactic antibiotics to reduce their risk. And that might include anyone who's been in prolonged contact with someone who developed meningitis. For example, people living in shared accommodation, shared dormitories, university students, and a shared hall of residents and people in a relationship. So the alpha partner. And people who have only had a brief contact with someone who developed meningitis will not usually need treatment. So I think it's important that we cover why we worry so much about meningitis. Before we do, it's important to say that most people make a full recovery from meningitis, but it can sometimes cause serious long-term problems. And as I said, it can be life-threatening. And that's why it's so important to get medical help as soon as possible. And also why meningitis vaccinations offered certain groups of people. Now it's estimated that one person, every two or three who survives bacterial meningitis is left with one or more permanent problems. That's quite a large number isn't it? There is a lot of precaution here. Complications are rare as we've said after viral meningitis. But some of the main complications that we associate are related to what the infection does to your organs. So that can include things like hearing loss, which could lead you to needing hearing aids or implants in severe cases. You can have recurrent seizures. You can have problems with memory and concentration, coordination, movement and balance. It can cause learning difficulties, behavioral problems. It can affect your vision again and that can be partial or total loss. It can actually cause loss of limbs, can't it? If you have severe infection, then they sometimes actually do have to have full amputation on people with severe meningitis and septer semenia. And again, this could lead to needing rehabilitation and support or even prostheses. They can be bone and joint problems such as arthritis and it can also cause kidney problems as well. Overall, it's estimated that up to one in every ten cases of bacterial meningitis is fatal. And as we've said, meningitis can cause sepsis and it can lead to death. And that's even with prompt treatment, isn't it? So how can we prevent meningitis? Well, as well as having good infection control techniques and measures, meningitis can be caused by a different number of infections. And there are, thankfully, several immunizations offer some protection. So let's go through these vaccinations. "M meningitis B". This is a vaccine that offers protection against meningococcal group B bacteria, which are a common cause of meningitis in young children in the UK. And actually, babies from eight weeks will be recommended to receive this vaccine and they'll get a second dose at 12 weeks and then a booster at one year of age. There's also the 6-in-1 vaccine also known as the DTAP IPV Hep B vaccine. And this offers protection against diphtheria, tetanusupinkov, hepatitis B polio and hemophilus influenza type B. This vaccine is given on four subtercazions when children are 8, 12, 16 weeks and 18 months and this protects against hemophilus influenza type B. We touched on this earlier. Previous , we received the leading cause of meningitis in young children. And thankfully due to these immunizations now rarely seen, thankfully. Yeah. The pneumococcal vaccine. This actually protects you against the pneumococcal bacteria, which as we said earlier can cause pneumonia as a most common condition. It will cause but it does also cause meningitis in some people. And again, babies are given or offered this immunization on two separate occasions at 16 weeks and then a booster at one year of age. And if you're aged over 65, you will be offered a single dose at that point as well. There's the MMRV vaccine. So this is the MMR vaccine in combination with the chicken box vaccine. This protects against measles, mumps, rebella and chicken box. Men and youngsters can sometimes occur as a complication of these infections and we touch on mumps earlier as a cause. And now the vaccine is usually given in two doses at 12 months and 18 months old. Yeah. Brilliant. And the last one we were going to mention is the Men ACWY vaccine. And this offers protection against four types of bacteria that can cause meningitis. So ACWY. And it's offered to teenagers from the age of 14 years old and also to people up to the age of 25 who have never had the vaccine containing the meningitis C before. So Sam, what's your take home point from this show? I think my take home point would be these sort of infections they can present very suddenly and quickly and because of that almost masks themselves behind looking similar to other things. So I think it's just important for us as doctors but also for us as a general public to be aware that sometimes we can consider that we might just have a flu-like virus but if something doesn't feel right to consider getting emergency attention particularly in the case of meningitis if you develop a rash that you're not sure about. Yeah. I think I would say that meningitis is a medical emergency. It needs to be treated quite seriously quite urgently and I think just to reinforce if you think that you will or somebody else has meningitis that needs to be dealt with immediately it can be really progressive. Yeah. Things can change very very quickly and so get immediate help. This has been an episode of Coffee Break and we hope you've enjoyed it and if you have then I hope you'll join us for another Coffee Break soon. Remember if you want to get in touch with us or if you have any ideas or suggestions then please feel free to email us at the show. [email protected]. 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