How to prevent meningitis in winter and spring?

What is meningococcal meningitis?

Epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis (EMM) is a purulent meningitis caused by meningococci. The pathogens invade the blood circulation from the nasopharynx, causing sepsis, and finally confine themselves to the meninges and spinal cord membranes, forming purulent meningitis.

The main clinical manifestations are sudden high fever, headache, vomiting, petechiae on the skin and mucous membranes, and meningeal irritation. Cerebrospinal fluid shows purulent changes. The disease is widespread throughout the world, either sporadically or in epidemic form, and is mostly reported in winter and spring, with the main incidence in children.

Meningococcal meningitis is a purulent meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis. It can occur in any age group, but is more common in winter and spring. The incidence begins to rise after November and reaches a peak in February-April. The highest incidence is in children under 14 years old, especially children under 7 years old. Meningococcus can be spread through droplets.

After infection with meningococcal meningitis, the initial symptoms are low fever, sore throat and other cold-like symptoms, followed by fever, chills, headache, vomiting, and rashes of varying sizes and uneven distribution on the skin and mucous membranes. In severe cases, there will be severe headaches, frequent jet-like vomiting, fear of light, mania, pain in the back of the neck, stiff neck and other symptoms. If not treated in time, death can occur within 24 hours, and the condition is more serious for infants and young children.

How to prevent meningitis in winter and spring?

During the epidemic season, comprehensive preventive measures should be taken to prevent the occurrence and spread of meningococcal meningitis. Specific measures include the following:

1. "Three Sunshine and One Opening" kills germs. The pathogen of "meningococcal meningitis" - meningococci are afraid of cold, heat and oxygen. Therefore, they are not easy to survive in an environment with plenty of sunshine and fresh air. "Three Sunshine and One Opening" means often sunbathing, drying bedding and clothes, and opening windows in the room for ventilation to achieve the purpose of killing the germs of the disease.

2. Vaccination to enhance immunity. Children under 15 years old are susceptible to meningococcal meningitis and need to be protected. However, the current meningococcal epidemic has a tendency to move to older age groups, and the vaccination targets are wider. In addition to going to less or no crowded public places during the epidemic season, you can also get vaccinated with meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine to improve your immunity to meningococcal meningitis. After vaccination, the immunity can last for more than one year. After a case of meningococcal meningitis occurs in the surrounding area, under the guidance of the local disease prevention and control agency, the vaccination targets of a certain range of people can be vaccinated with meningococcal vaccine in an emergency.

3. Timely detection and early isolation. During the season when meningococcal meningitis is common, if children are found to have unexplained fever, headache, or vomiting, they must be alerted and taken to the hospital for examination in time. Those diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis must be isolated and treated. Suspected patients or close contacts of patients must be closely observed to prevent the spread of the disease.

How to get the meningococcal vaccine?

The best strategy to prevent meningococcal meningitis is to use multivalent polysaccharide vaccines to prevent susceptible populations. Children aged 6 months to 2 years old should be given two doses of group A meningococcal vaccine at 3 months intervals. At 3 and 6 years old, they should be given a booster dose of group A or group AC meningococcal vaccine. It is recommended that children aged 6 to 15 years be vaccinated with group AC meningococcal vaccine. Adults can also be vaccinated voluntarily. There may be redness or tenderness 6-8 hours after vaccination, which will gradually subside after 24 hours.

Getting vaccinated is not a safe bet. The meningococcal vaccine immunizes 90%-95% of the population, but there is still a possibility of infection. Therefore, it is important to take proper precautions during the peak period of meningococcal disease.

Popular Science Doctor: Chen Xiaoli

Workplace: Xiyangdian Town Health Center, Pingyu County