Meningitis is a very serious and serious disease. Children from meningitis suffer much more often than adults. But this does not mean that the infection can not enter the adult organism and develop there. For a long time, meningitis usually does not cause itself - the incubation period is not long at all. Everything depends on the immunity and form of the disease.
Causes and main symptoms of meningitis
Meningitis is an infectious disease, during which the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord become inflamed. The disease is dangerous because infection from the walls can spread directly to the brain, which is fraught with serious consequences.
The cause of development of meningitis usually become harmful viruses, bacteria, fungi. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets. If the body can not stop the infection in the nasopharynx, it gets into the blood and gets to the ears, eyes, joints and the most terrible - the brain.
After a short incubation period, the first symptoms of meningitis appear, which are very similar to the signs of influenza . Because of this, the infection is often neglected or treated with completely unsuitable means.
What is the incubation period of meningitis in adults?
There are many kinds of meningitis. The disease is classified depending on the pathogen, the nature of the inflammatory process, localization and can be:
- serous;
- purulent;
- virus;
- bacterial.
Each of these types of illness manifests itself either sharply or becomes chronic.
All kinds and forms of the disease are dangerous because they develop too rapidly. Very often, something wrong can be suspected on the same day when the infection only penetrated the body.
For example, the incubation period of infectious meningitis can last from one to ten days. Usually it is five to six days. The faster the infection develops in the body, the more difficult it will be to fight and the worse the predictions.
Immediately after the infection enters the body, a person may feel weak, sometimes the temperature jumps abruptly. Even during the incubation period, the patient suffers from headaches and dizziness. Very often, the appetite disappears and nausea appears.
Serous meningitis is associated with serous inflammation in the walls of the brain. The incubation period of enterovirus serous meningitis is very short and can last from several hours to three to four days. All this time the patient feels weakness and discomfort. Strong headaches are accompanied by vomiting and high fever (sometimes reaching even forty degrees). This form of meningitis is most often affected by people living in large cities.
Another form of the disease is viral meningitis. It is a type of development very similar to serous and develops just as quickly. The incubation period of viral meningitis is two to four days. Immediately after the virus enters the body, the temperature
One of the most unpleasant forms of meningitis is purulent. The inflammatory process is rather difficult. The incubation period of purulent meningitis is minimal and usually lasts no more than four days. A few hours after infection, a person feels discomfort in the neck. Then there is a headache, which becomes stronger with every minute. Some patients have purulent meningitis very hard, being delirious and suffering from seizures.