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Homeopathic Medicine For the treatment Of meningitis and Meningococcemia
No Material quantity of Active ingredient present.
Homeopathic dilution in 30c potency prepared according to the good Medical practice
According to the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of England
Note- Homeopathic medicines are not individually incensed in England and are prepared under GMP guidelines
Homeopathic medicne for the treatment of
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Meningococcal disease describes infections caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (also termed meningococcus). It carries a high mortality rate if untreated. While best known as a cause of meningitis, widespread blood infection (sepsis) is more damaging and dangerous. Meningitis and Meningococcemia are major causes of illness, death, and disability in both developed and under developed countries worldwide.
The disease's host/pathogen interaction is not fully understood. The pathogen originates harmlessly in a large number of the general population, but thereafter can invade the blood stream and the brain, causing serious illness. Over the past few years, experts have made an intensive effort to understand specific aspects of meningococcal biology and host interactions, however the development of improved treatments and effective vaccines will depend on novel efforts by workers in many different fields.
The incidence of endemic meningococcal disease during the last 13 years ranges from 1 to 5 per 100,000 in developed countries, and from 10 to 25 per 100,000 in developing countries. During epidemics the incidence of meningococcal disease approaches 100 per 100,000. There are approximately 2,600 cases of bacterial meningitis per year in the United States, and on average 333,000 cases in developing countries. The case fatality rate ranges between 10 and 20 per cent.
While Meningococcal disease is not as contagious as the common cold (which is spread through casual contact), it can be transmitted through saliva and occasionally through close, prolonged general contact with an infected person.
Meningococcal disease causes life-threatening meningitis and sepsis conditions. In the case of meningitis, bacteria attack the lining between the brain and skull called the meninges. Infected fluid from the meninges then passes into the spinal cord, causing symptoms including stiff neck, fever and rashes. The meninges (and sometimes the brain itself) begin to swell, which affects the central nervous system.
Even with antibiotics, approximately 1 in 10 victims of meningococcal meningitis will die; However, about as many survivors of the disease lose a limb or their hearing, or suffer permanent brain damage. The sepsis type of infection is much more deadly, and results in a severe blood poisoning called meningococcal sepsis that affects the entire body. In this case, bacterial toxins rupture blood vessels and can rapidly shut down vital organs. Within hours, patient's health can change from seemingly good to mortally ill.
The N. meningitidis bacterium is surrounded by a slimy outer coat that contains disease-causing endotoxin. While many bacteria produce endotoxin, the levels produced by meningococcal bacteria are 100 to 1,000 times greater (and accordingly more lethal) than normal. As the bacteria multiply and move through the bloodstream, it sheds concentrated amounts of toxin. The endotoxin directly affects the heart, reducing its ability to circulate blood, and also causes pressure on blood vessels throughout the body. As some blood vessels start to hemorrhage, major organs like the lungs and kidneys are damaged.
Patients suffering from meningococcal disease are treated with a large dose of antibiotic. The systemic antibiotic flowing through the bloodstream rapidly kills the bacteria but, as the bacteria are killed, even more toxin is released. It takes up to several days for the toxin to be neutralized from the body by using continuous liquid treatment and antibiotic therapy.
Meningococcal is often spread through saliva. This can be from kissing or drinking from someone else's cup
The patient with meningococcal meningitis typically presents with high fever, meningism (stiff neck), Kernig's sign, severe headache, vomiting, purpura, photophobia, and sometimes chills, altered mental status, or seizures. Diarrhea or respiratory symptoms are less common. Petechiae is often also present, but does not always occur, so its absence should not be used against the diagnosis of meningococcal disease. Anyone with symptoms of meningococcal meningitis should receive intravenus antibiotics pending results of lumbar puncture, as delay in treatment worsens the prognosis.
This section requires expansion.
Symptoms of meningococcemia are, at least initially, similar to those of influenza. Typically, the first symptoms include fever, nausea, myalgia, headache, arthralgia, chills, diarrhea, stiff neck, and malaise. Later symptoms include septic shock, purpura, hypotension, cyanosis, petechiae, seizures, anxiety, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Acute respiratory distress syndrome and altered mental status may also occur. Meningococcal sepsis has a higher mortality rate than meningococcal meningitis, but the risk of neurologic sequelae is much lower.
[Types of infection
Meningococcemia, like many gram-negative blood infections, can cause disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a condition where blood starts to clot throughout the body, sometimes causing ischemic tissue damage. DIC also causes bleeding, when the clotting factors are used up, causing the characteristic purpuric rash.
Meningococcal meningitis is a consequence of bacteria entering the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and irritating the meninges - the membranes that line the brain and spinal cord. Sub-Saharan Africa, Americas, Western Europe, UK and Ireland face multifarious challenges, 200 years after the discovery of bacterial meningitis.
As with any gram negative bacterium, N. meningitidis can infect a variety of sites.
Meningococcal pneumonia can appear during influenza pandemics and in military camps. This is a multilobar, rapidly evolving pneumonia, sometimes associated with septic shock. With prompt treatment with penicillin or chloramphenicol, the prognosis is excellent. Pericarditis can appear, either as a septic pericarditis with grave prognosis or as a rective pericarditis in the wake of meningitis or septicaemia. Myocarditis can be a complication of meningococcemia and can be contributive to shock seen in this form of disease. Pharyngitis and conjunctivitis can also appear and can constitute the portal of entry for the bacterium. Septic arthritis due to N. meningitidis can be seen, usually accompanying disseminated infection. Other forms of disease can rarely be seen, like osteomyelitis, endophthalmitis and urethritis
Treatment and prognosis
When meningococcal disease is suspected, treatment must be started immediately and should not be delayed while waiting for investigations. Treatment in primary care usually involves prompt intramuscular administration of benzylpenicillin, and then an urgent transfer to hospital for further care. Once in hospital, the antibiotics of choice are usually IV broad spectrum 3rd generation cephalosporins, e.g. cefotaxime or ceftriaxone. Benzylpenicillin and chloramphenicol are also effective. Supportive measures include IV fluids, oxygen, inotropic support, e.g. dopamine or dobutamine and management of raised intracranial pressure. Steroid therapy may help in some adult patients, but is unlikely to affect long term outcomes.
Complications following meningococcal disease can be divided into early and late groups. Early complications include: raised intracranial pressure, disseminated intravascular coagulation, seizures, circulatory collapse and organ failure. Later complications are: deafness, blindness, lasting neurological deficits, reduced IQ, and gangrene leading to amputations.
Disease Outbreak Control
Meningitis A,C,Y and W-135 vaccines can be used for large-scale vaccination programs when an outbreak of meningococcal disease occurs in Africa and other regions of the world. Whenever sporadic or cluster cases or outbreaks of meningococcal disease occur in the US, chemoprophylaxis is the principal means of preventing secondary cases in household and other close contacts of individuals with invasive disease. Meningitis A,C,Y and W-135 vaccines rarely may be used as an adjunct to chemoprophylaxis,1 but only in situations where there is an ongoing risk of exposure (e.g., when cluster cases or outbreaks occur) and when a serogroup contained in the vaccine is involved. It is important that clinicians promptly report all cases of suspected or confirmed meningococcal disease to local public health authorities and that the serogroup of the meningococcal strain involved be identified. The effectiveness of mass vaccination programs depends on early and accurate recognition of outbreaks. When a suspected outbreak of meningococcal disease occurs, public health authorities will then determine whether mass vaccinations (with or without mass chemoprophylaxis) is indicated and delineate the target population to be vaccinated based on risk assessment.
Meningococcal vaccination and people with chronic medical conditions
Persons with component deficiencies in the final common complement pathway (C3,C5-C9) are more susceptible to N. meningitidis infection than complement-satisfactory persons, and it was estimated that the risk of infection is 7000 times higher in such individuals. In addition, complement component-deficient population frequently experience frequent meningococcal disease since their immune response to natural infection may be less complete than that of complement none-deficient persons. Inherited properdin deficiency also is related with an increased risk of contracting meningococcal disease. Because persons with functional or anatomic asplenia may not immune to efficiently clear encapsulated Neisseria meningitidis from the bloodstream Persons with other conditions associated with immunosuppression also may be at increased risk of developing meningitis disease.
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