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Meningitis and Encephalitis
A guide for patients and carers
Some do's and don'ts
• Encephalitis and meningitis can develop quickly. If you think your child has encephalitis or meningitis, contact your family doctor or go to hospital.
• The time around diagnosis and treatment of encephalitis or meningitis is a frightening time for patients and carers alike. For children in particular it is important that a parent is available to provide reassurance, especially when it comes to explaining procedures such as CT or MRI brain scanning and lumbar puncture.
• Good personal hygiene reduces the risk of getting encephalitis or meningitis. Unwashed hands can carry the virus and spread it to others.
• Public Health staff will be informed of cases of meningococcal meningitis. They will try to find out who has been in intimate contact with the person affected (e.g. touching, kissing, using the same cooking utensils, or exposure to sneezes). They may carry out throat swabs on close contacts or advise a course of antibiotics to prevent them from developing the infection. If you are concerned, you should contact your GP or the hospital doctor for advice.
• Meningitis is not normally spread through schools. If someone at the school has meningitis, it is not necessary to keep your child off school.
• Not being able to recall words or put thoughts into words is very frustrating. Give someone who is experiencing problems with this plenty of time for replies and ask others not to interrupt.
• Try to be as independent as possible - even if the task takes longer - but don’t take any unnecessary risks!
• If epilepsy is a problem:
1. Inform someone that you have epilepsy
2. Make sure someone knows what to do if you have a fit
3. Take your medication regularly
4. Don’t get over tired or go without food for too long.
• The time around diagnosis and treatment of encephalitis or meningitis is a frightening time for patients and carers alike. For children in particular it is important that a parent is available to provide reassurance, especially when it comes to explaining procedures such as CT or MRI brain scanning and lumbar puncture.
• Good personal hygiene reduces the risk of getting encephalitis or meningitis. Unwashed hands can carry the virus and spread it to others.
• Public Health staff will be informed of cases of meningococcal meningitis. They will try to find out who has been in intimate contact with the person affected (e.g. touching, kissing, using the same cooking utensils, or exposure to sneezes). They may carry out throat swabs on close contacts or advise a course of antibiotics to prevent them from developing the infection. If you are concerned, you should contact your GP or the hospital doctor for advice.
• Meningitis is not normally spread through schools. If someone at the school has meningitis, it is not necessary to keep your child off school.
• Not being able to recall words or put thoughts into words is very frustrating. Give someone who is experiencing problems with this plenty of time for replies and ask others not to interrupt.
• Try to be as independent as possible - even if the task takes longer - but don’t take any unnecessary risks!
• If epilepsy is a problem:
1. Inform someone that you have epilepsy
2. Make sure someone knows what to do if you have a fit
3. Take your medication regularly
4. Don’t get over tired or go without food for too long.
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Contents
- Introduction
- What is meningitis?
- What is encephalitis?
- What are the symptoms?
- Tests used to diagnose meningitis and encaphilitis
- Other problems that can be confused with meningitis and encaphilitis
- Treatment of meningitis
- Treatment of encaphalitis
- How well do people respond to treatment?
- Other help available to patients and carers
- Getting back to normal
- Things to be avoided
- Some do's and don'ts
- Summary
- Other Organisations that may be able to help
