Viral meningitis in children is usually a mild and transient disease. However, bacterial meningitis is a serious disease and its symptoms should be known. Read here when to seek immediate medical attention.
- Viral meningitis usually heals spontaneously. However, bacterial meningitis requires immediate treatment.
- Always seek medical attention if the child's general condition is poor, their neck is stiff, they have a headache and fever and blood spots occur on the skin.
Although severe meningitis in children is rare, it is good to know its symptoms. This way, you will be able to seek treatment for the child in time.
Your child may have meningitis if you notice these symptoms:
- poor general condition
- intense headache
- stiff neck—for example, the child cannot lower their chin to their chest
- high fever
- vomiting and nausea
- rash with red spots
- eyes sensitive to light
- convulsions
- reduced level of consciousness
Parents of small babies should be particularly careful when the baby is ill. The symptoms of meningitis in babies differ from those of a child's or an adult's.
These symptoms may indicate that your baby has meningitis:
- lethargy
- contact sensitivity
- poor general condition
- abnormal behaviour
- bulging fontanelle
- fever or hypothermia
If you suspect your child has meningitis, do not waste time, seek immediate medical attention.
Book an appointment with our paediatricians or general practitioners and learn more about our emergency services.
Severe bacterial meningitis advances rapidly and may threaten the life of the child. Treatment must be started as soon as possible.
It is not up to you to determine whether the infection is bacterial or viral—the doctor will take care of this. The most important thing is that you bring the child to a doctor quickly.
When a child has symptoms that indicate severe meningitis, a spinal fluid sample is typically taken to determine the cause of the infection.
- Bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics. Treatment often begins in an intensive care unit where brain pressure is monitored and antibiotics are administered intravenously.
- The child is provided a viral antibiotic for meningitis caused by the herpes virus.
- Antipyretics and painkillers can relieve the child's symptoms according to the doctor's discretion if the child's meningitis is determined to be viral. The disease usually heals spontaneously.
If the child has viral meningitis, recovery is usually quick.
Children usually also recover well from bacterial meningitis as well. However, in some cases, the child may have hearing damage after suffering from bacterial meningitis.
Meningitis can be caused by viruses or bacteria and, in rare cases, by fungi or protozoa. In meningitis, the membrane covering the brain becomes inflamed.
Here are some things you should know about the causes of a child's meningitis:
- Viral infection. The most typical cause of meningitis in children, usually harmless and heals spontaneously. However, some viruses, such as the herpes virus, can cause severe meningitis.
- Bacterial infection. Rare, but even more dangerous. Requires immediate first aid in a hospital. Can be caused by pneumococcus, meningococcus or tick-borne borrelia. In small babies, meningitis can be caused by group B streptococcus bacteria or coli bacteria transmitted from the birth canal or listeria bacteria.
Children can be protected from bacterial meningitis with the PCV and Hib vaccines included in the national vaccination programme. Vaccines against meningococcus are also available.
However, keep in mind that the immunity provided by vaccines in babies is weak and protection against all of the bacteria that cause meningitis cannot be provided with vaccines.
The expert for this articles was our paediatrician Tero Kontiokari.
Meningitis is a bacterial or viral infection of the membrane that covers the brain.
Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening condition.
It is difficult to determine whether the infection is bacterial or not based on the symptoms. Therefore, a doctor's assessment is appropriate whenever a child shows symptoms of meningitis.
Many of the bacteria that cause meningitis thrive in the nasopharynx, so there is no need to be particularly concerned about their transmission from one person to another.
The bacteria in our body cause inflammation only when the immune system fails for some reason and the bacteria can spread to the meninges.
Meningococcal bacteria may cause minor outbreaks. In this case, the patient's immediate family can be administered antibiotics or vaccines.
Borrelia, a bacterium that causes meningitis, may be transmitted by ticks. Therefore, during tick season, children who spend a lot of time outdoors should be checked for ticks every day.
Take your child or baby to the doctor immediately if they show symptoms suggestive of meningitis.
Meningitis is not always associated with a rash. Meningitis caused by dangerous meningococcal bacteria typically manifests as blood spots, or petechiae, on the child's skin.
In most cases, severe meningitis is accompanied by fever, but a small baby, for example, may experience hypothermia.
There is no curative treatment for viral meningitis.
Herpes virus is an exception, as the meningitis it causes can be treated with an antiviral medication.
Fortunately, viral meningitis is usually mild and children heal spontaneously within a few days.
Bacterial meningitis, which is less common, is a life-threatening, serious disease that requires urgent treatment.
If the child has bacterial meningitis, treatment often begins in an intensive care unit, where brain pressure can be monitored and the antibiotic is administered intravenously.
Fortunately, bacterial meningitis caused by pneumococcus and haemophilus can be prevented with vaccines that are part of the vaccination programme.
There is also a vaccine against meningococcal bacteria. It can be a wise choice for your child if you travel a lot in Africa. However, there is no vaccine for all meningococcal strains.
In Finland, meningococcal vaccines are not part of the children's national vaccination programme, but you can get a vaccination against meningococcal bacteria from Mehiläinen. If your child feels nervous about the vaccination, read here on how to tell the child about the vaccination in an encouraging way.
You do not need to be particularly concerned that your child will get meningitis. Fortunately, severe meningitis is rare.
However, it is good to be aware of the possibility of meningitis because, in the worst case, bacterial meningitis can be life-threatening and the child must be treated immediately.
Mehiläinen's emergency services are here to help you in your time of need.
Mehiläinen’s paediatricians are here to help you if you think your child may have meningitis. A doctor's assessment is always appropriate whenever a child shows symptoms of meningitis.
Our general practitioners will also help you if necessary.
