Meningitis + Original Articles

If meningitis strikes in your community or at your child's school, you'll want to know these tips by heart. Outbreaks of meningitis most often occur in late winter and early spring. While viral meningitis is generally less dangerous than bacterial, it still requires medical attention to identify the source of infection. Some types of meningitis are much more serious than others.

There are steps you can take to avoid contracting this serious illness. Here's what you need to know. This potentially fatal disease has been cropping up all over the country, especially in places where people congregate or live in close proximity to each other (college dormitories and military barracks). What causes a meningitis outbreak and how can you protect yourself and your family? Meningitis is a disease that causes inflammation or swelling of the meninges, the protective lining that covers the brain and spinal cord.

Allergens can attack almost anywhere, including your own home. Follow these tips to reduce your risk. Sitting in your living room shouldn't give you hives. Relaxing in your bathtub shouldn't make you sneeze. And cooking dinner shouldn't make your eyes and nose itch. If you find yourself in any of these situations, you may be allergic to your home. According to the American Academy of Family Doctors, allergies are overreactions to things that don't cause problems for most people, and these things are known as allergens.

Learn more about important meningitis prevention and treatment options. Meningitis is a serious disease that often affects young people, although it can strike at any age. An inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, meningitis is usually caused by a virus but can also be the result of bacteria.

Learn how immunizations work and why it's so important to vaccinate your child. Vaccinations are some of the most important tools available for preventing disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Not only do they protect individuals from developing a potentially serious disease, but they also protect the community by reducing the spread of infectious disease.

Learn about the inexpensive and no-cost resources available to help prevent this potentially deadly disease. Meningococcal disease, or bacterial meningitis, is a rare and potentially deadly disease marked by the inflammation of the thin tissue that envelopes the brain and spinal cord, known as the meninges. (Viral meningitis, a less serious form of the disease, is the result of a virus entering the body through the nose or mouth and traveling to the brain.

Find out how you can protect your teen or pre-teen against infection. As a parent, you probably want to protect your child from illness and injury whenever possible. One way to do that is to make sure they are properly vaccinated. You may have thought the days of vaccines ended when your child started kindergarten, but as medicine evolves, more and more vaccines are available for kids between the ages of 11 and 18.

Knowing the symptoms of bacterial meningitis could mean the difference between life and death. Headache, vomiting, fever, fatigue--to most people, these symptoms might sound a lot like the flu. But in some cases, they could indicate a much more serious condition: bacterial meningitis. According to the American College Health Association, meningococcal disease, the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, strikes 1,400 to 3,000 Americans each year, many of whom are young adults, adolescents, and children.

Meningitis has made big headlines, but do you know the whole story behind this contagious disease? Here, we debunk the condition's 10 most common myths. You've probably read the tragic news stories about the college kid or the young athlete who died from meningitis. Or you've heard the rumors about how you can catch it by kissing someone. But how much do you really know about the disease? Get the truth behind the top 10 meningitis myths.

Could your teenager contract meningitis at camp, in the classroom, or at the college dorm? Here, what you can do to reduce your child's risks. It's every parent's worst nightmare: Their teenager returns home from camp or college with a fever, headache, and stiff neck—symptoms that sound a lot like the flu. But as it turns out, their son or daughter is suffering from a much scarier illness, meningitis.