Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the protective membranes covering the brain, commonly by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae or Neisseria meningitidis.It can rapidly spread to the rest of the body causing blood poisoning(septicaemia) and rapid death.It mainly affects very young children and teenagers of the age 15-19.The symptoms include a blotchy purple rash that does not disappear when a glass is pressed against it.Immediate medical treatment is needed and 10% of people who get the disease die.Vaccines can prevent some forms of the disease and antibiotics will cure the disease if delivered early.During 2012–19, there were 6554 laboratory-confirmed cases in England. Mean annual incidence was 1.49/100,000, which remained stable throughout the surveillance period.There were 155 different bacterial species identified, including 68.4% Gram-negative and 31.6% Gram-positive bacteria.
Bacterial Meningitis
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Specification: OCR Biology A (H020), AS-level, 4.1.1 Communicable diseases, disease prevention and the immune system. Topic: Communicable Diseases.
Key terms in this lesson
- organelle
- A membrane-bound structure within a cell with a specific structure suited to a specific function.
- mitochondrion
- An organelle with a double membrane, the inner one folded into cristae, that is the site of aerobic respiration and ATP production.
- eukaryotic cell
- A cell with a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles, found in animals, plants, fungi and protoctists.
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