Meningitis Treatment and Prevention Everyday Health
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Menomune, an older vaccine that protected against these four strains, was discontinued in February 2017. The two available meningococcal conjugate vaccines that protect against strains A, C, W-135, and Y are:MenactraMenveo The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all children ages 11 and 12 receive one of these vaccines, followed by a booster shot at age 16. (2) These vaccines are also recommended for babies, children, and adults at particular risk for meningococcal meningitis. No booster shot is needed if the vaccine is given for the first time at age 16 or older. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first two vaccines for N. meningitis group B for people between ages 10 and 25. They are:TrumenbaBexsero
Meningitis Treatment and Prevention
Treatment for meningitis is dependent on whether the disease is viral, bacterial, fungal, or noninfectious. By Joseph Bennington-CastroMedically Reviewed by Michael Natter, MDReviewed: September 7, 2022Medically ReviewedMedication is available to treat some forms of meningitis, but not all.Bacterial meningitis is treated with antibiotics, but there are no specific treatments for viral meningitis. If your doctor suspects you have meningitis, he or she will likely put you on a round of broad-spectrum antibiotics to fight potential nonviral types of infectious meningitis. Once the type of meningitis has been determined — viral, bacterial, fungal, or noninfectious — your doctor will provide a more specific treatment.How Is Viral Meningitis Treated
Antibiotics cannot kill viruses, and using antibiotics when there is no bacterial infection can have harmful effects, such as developing antibiotic resistance. If you have viral meningitis, you will be taken off whatever antibiotic therapy you may have been initially given. There is no specific treatment for viral meningitis, which is often mild. Most of the time, people recover from viral meningitis in 7 to 10 days with little more than rest, over-the-counter fever reducers or pain medication, and proper fluid intake. But if you have meningitis caused by a herpes virus or influenza, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral medication, such as:ganciclovir (Cytovene) or foscarnet (Foscavir), which are sometimes used to treat cytomegalovirus meningitis (CMV meningitis) in people with weakened immune systemsacyclovir (Zovirax), which may be used to treat meningitis from the herpes simplex virusHow Is Bacterial Meningitis Treated
If you have bacterial meningitis, you will be treated with one or more antibiotics that target the bacteria causing your infection. These antibiotics commonly include:Cephalosporin antibiotics, such as cefotaxime (Claforan) and ceftriaxone (Rocephin), for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and ampicillin-resistant Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) meningitisampicillin (Omnipen) (a penicillin-class drug), for Haemophilus influenzae type B and Listeria monocytogenesvancomycin (Firvanq) (delivered intravenously) for meningitis caused by several different types of bacteria strains A number of other antibiotics may also be used, such as:meropenem (Merrem)The aminoglycoside antibiotics tobramycin (Tobi) and gentamicin (Garamycin)ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and rifampin (Rifadin), which are sometimes given to family members of people with bacterial meningitis to help protect them from catching the infectionsOther Meningitis Treatments
Fungal meningitis is treated with long courses of high-dose intravenous (IV) antifungal drugs. These medicines are often part of the azole class of antifungal drugs, such as fluconazole (Diflucan), which is used to treat infections from Candida albicans, the fungus behind yeast infections. Depending on the type of infection, other antifungals may also be used. For example, amphotericin B (AmBisome) is one of the most common treatments for cryptococcal meningitis, caused by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. Amphotericin B may also be used to treat a rare type of parasitic meningitis caused by Naegleria fowleri. Alternatively, the antifungal agent miconazole (Buccal) and the antibiotic rifampin may be used. In addition to the above drugs, corticosteroids may be used to reduce meningitis inflammation. This is especially important in bacterial meningitis; for this reason, steroids are often given in conjunction with antibiotics.Can You Get a Vaccine to Prevent Meningitis
Vaccines cannot protect you from the noninfectious causes of meningitis, which include:CancerAutoimmune disordersCertain drugs But meningitis vaccines can protect you from the three most common bacteria that cause the disease in children and adults — Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) — and certain meningitis-causing viruses. RELATED: 10 Ways to Ease Your Baby’s Vaccination PainWhat Are the Vaccines for Meningococcal Meningitis
Meningococcal disease is any illness caused by the bacterium N. meningitidis. At least 12 different serogroups, or strains, of N. meningitidis have been identified so far, with five of them (A, B, C, W-135, and Y) causing the majority of meningococcal disease cases in the world. (1)Menomune, an older vaccine that protected against these four strains, was discontinued in February 2017. The two available meningococcal conjugate vaccines that protect against strains A, C, W-135, and Y are:MenactraMenveo The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all children ages 11 and 12 receive one of these vaccines, followed by a booster shot at age 16. (2) These vaccines are also recommended for babies, children, and adults at particular risk for meningococcal meningitis. No booster shot is needed if the vaccine is given for the first time at age 16 or older. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first two vaccines for N. meningitis group B for people between ages 10 and 25. They are:TrumenbaBexsero