Treatment for Meningitis

Treatment for meningitis should be taken very seriously and should take place as soon as possible. 

Firstly, an urgent diagnosis would be needed. If the diagnosis is confirmed, Treatment for meningitis should begin at once.  The sooner a person diagnosed and treated, the greater the chance that the person will make a full recovery.

fighting against meningitis at the earliest stage possible, particularly bacterial meningitis, is very important. If a person is diagnosed with (or strongly suspected to have) bacterial meningitis, doctors will most likely start intravenous antibiotics straight away, even before the laboratory test results have been received back, or the exact micro-organism causing the infection has been pinpointed.

Once they have identified the infectious agent through laboratory tests, antibiotics can be changed to something more appropriate to the particular bacteria involved, or even discontinued if the patient turns out to have viral meningitis.

A child with bacterial meningitis will almost certainly be hospitalised and closely monitored. Even in the hospital, the child will continue to receive antibiotics and may require intensive-care treatment. The child will also receive fluids to replace those lost to fever, sweating, vomiting, and poor appetite, and may be given corticosteroids to help reduce inflammation of the meninges, depending on the cause of the disease.

Complications of bacterial meningitis may require specific treatment for meningitis.

A supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation may be needed for some children if they have difficulty breathing.

Children who have viral meningitis may also be hospitalized.  However, some children are allowed to recover at home if they do not seem to be too ill. 

With the exception of medication for the herpes simplex virus, there are no medications to fight the agents that cause viral meningitis, so treatment is usually aimed at relieving the child's symptoms. 

This includes getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of fluids, and taking over-the-counter pain medication, such as acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) to relieve fever and headache.

Viral meningitis cannot be treated by antibiotics. This type of treatment is based on good nursing care. Recovery is normally complete, but headaches, tiredness and depression may persist for weeks or even months.

Some patients who have had meningitis may require longer-term follow-up. One of the most common problems resulting from bacterial meningitis is impaired hearing, and children who have had bacterial meningitis should have a hearing test following their recovery.

a person who has Fungal meningitis requires anti-fungal therapy and appropriate management.