The doctor talked about the symptoms and diagnosis of meningitis

Meningitis is distinguished from acute respiratory viral infections or influenza by a characteristic rash, but at the same time it is she who misleads incompetent medical professionals who confuse her with rashes with chickenpox.

"When a hemorrhagic rash appears, the condition should be differentiated between infectious causes and possible hematological disorders, which is especially important for young children, since both conditions require urgent medical intervention. Differential diagnosis of meningococcal infection should be carried out both with hematological diseases and with various infectious pathologies," said Aleksentseva.

She noted that when a rash appears, measles and hemorrhagic fever of travelers should also be excluded.

In people with strong immune systems, meningitis can manifest itself only in the form of a slight sore throat, slight nasal congestion and runny nose, after which the symptoms disappear, and the body forms immunity, the doctor said. However, with weakened respiratory protection, the bacterium enters the bloodstream, causing meningococcemia, a condition in which the pathogen spreads through all the vessels of the body, including the nervous system.

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"With severe meningococcal infection, the most serious complications develop — meningitis and infectious and toxic shock, or, in simple terms, sepsis. In this case, the infection spreads throughout the body through the bloodstream, affecting various organs and systems," the doctor emphasized.

According to Aleksentseva, damage to the adrenal glands, which are responsible for the production of vital hormones, is especially dangerous. Against the background of these processes, serious intravascular changes occur, which can lead to circulatory disorders so severe that in some cases limb amputation is required due to a critical blood circulation disorder, the doctor said.

Aleksentseva recalled that with severe meningitis, the nervous system is affected, which has dangerous serious consequences. Among them, for example, epilepsy, various paralysis and paresis. That is why timely diagnosis and treatment of meningococcal infection are crucial to prevent such devastating consequences.

On February 18, Andrey Pozdnyakov, Candidate of Medical Sciences, infectious Diseases specialist at Invitro told about the causative agent and symptoms of whooping cough. According to him, the disease in the first weeks is accompanied by a mild cough, which after this period becomes spasmodic. Seizures often end with vomiting with the release of a small amount of viscous sputum. The causative agent of whooping cough, the bacterium Bordetella pertussis (bordetella), remains virtually unchanged for a long time, the doctor noted.