Meningitis Risk

Meningitis is a very serious infection causing inflammation of the
meninges (the membranes covering the brain and the spinal
cord)commonly affecting children(often as a complication of maternal
TB,measles,mumps,whooping cough, or ear infection although it can
infect a person of any age.Meningitis may be viral or bacterial.The
former does not necessarily need elaborate treatment.The latter
constitutes a medical emergency.
The two most important causes of bacterial meningitis are haemophilus
influenza and meningococcal infection.Meningococcal meningitis is
globally epidemic and occurs in 'waves' of infection.In the wave 1996
to the present,300,000 cases have been reported in sub-saharan
Africa.Even in non-peaking years there are around 1.2 million cases
of bacterial meningitis a year worldwide and of these 500,000 are
meningococcal and 50,000 of these cases die