Meningitis and Encephalitis

Meningitis and Encephalitis PDF

Author: Rodrigo Hasbun

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-07-19

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 3319926780

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Meningitis and Encephalitis are associated with high rates of mortality and neurological sequelae. The differential diagnosis includes a wide spectrum of infectious and non-infectious etiologies, some requiring urgent therapy for survival. The current management challenges in patients with meningitis and encephalitis include a low sensitivity of meningeal signs, overutilization of unnecessary screening cranial imaging, delays in diagnosis of urgent treatable causes, a large proportion of unknown etiologies, low sensitivity of current microbiological techniques especially in the setting of previous antibiotic therapy, underutilization of available molecular diagnostic tests, and empiric antibiotic therapy and hospitalization for viral meningitis cases. Even though there are published guidelines, compliance with them is not optimal and physicians do not follow standardized algorithms in their empirical approach. As meningitis and encephalitis is associated with high rates of adverse clinical outcomes, prevention, when feasible is of upmost importance. Adherence to protocols to prevent health-care associated meningitis and ventriculitis are effective but compliance with them is not uniformly performed. This book seeks to improve outcomes for meningitis and encephalitis cases handled by physicians who may or may not be thoroughly trained for these challenges. The text introduces the current guidelines but also discusses the gaps that leave clinicians struggling to implement the most appropriate approaches for these particular neurological infections. Each chapter delivers the tools necessary to identify and adhere to the most appropriate diagnostic technique, management protocols, and prevention approach for each situation. All chapters conclude with discourse on future directions in research and quality improvement. Written by experts in infectious diseases, the book covers topics that are the most devastating, including healthcare-acquired infections, autoimmune encephalitis, and infections as they present in HIV patients. Meningitis and Encephalitis is a well-rounded resource for all medical professionals encountering these neurological syndromes, including infectious disease specialists, neurologists, primary care physicians, and immunologists.

Bacterial Meningitis

Bacterial Meningitis PDF

Author: James M. Stuart

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9783036518084

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This timely collection of expert papers draws attention to the global burden of meningitis and the challenges faced by the WHO's roadmap to defeat meningitis by 2030. The three main goals of the meningitis roadmap are to eliminate epidemics of bacterial meningitis, reduce cases and deaths from vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis, and reduce disability and improve quality of life after meningitis of any cause. This book includes a wide range of original research and reviews on epidemiology and vaccination of bacterial meningitis that have direct relevance to advancing the goals of the roadmap.

Continual Raving

Continual Raving PDF

Author: Janet R. Gilsdorf

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-10-15

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0190677333

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Not all scientific discoveries are genius. Continual Raving tells the combined stories of how scientists across the 19th and 20th centuries defeated meningitis -- not through flawless scientific research, but often through a series of serendipitous events, misplaced assumptions, and flawed conclusions. The result is a story of not just a vanquished disease, but how scientific accomplishment sometimes occurs where it's least expected. Although symptoms of meningitis were recorded as early as Hippocrates and the ancient Greeks, our understanding of the disease's origins and mechanisms remained obscure for most of human history. That changed in 1892, when German physician Richard Pfeiffer observed and isolated bacteria ultimately shown to cause meningitis in children -- and concluded that those bacteria cause influenza. Haemophilus influenzae, as thee meningitis-causing bacteria have been erroneously named ever since, continued their strange journey to discovery in the decades that followed. Continual Raving traces the disease's strange encounters with science, including: · Heinrich Quincke, the German internist who first used a needle to draw spinal fluid from between a patient's back bones · Simon Flexner's management of American meningitis epidemics using immune serum from a horse · American bacteriologist Margaret Pittman's discovery (during the Great Depression, no less) of a sugar overcoat that protects the bacteria from white blood cells · Pediatrician Ashley Weech, who gave the first antibiotic used in America (based on instructions written in German) to a young patient sick with meningitis · Microbiologist Hattie Alexander, who learned why these antibiotics sometimes fail in such patients · Four scientists, in two teams, as they vied to be the first to create the right vaccine to prevent meningitis in infants In each of these deeply human stories, variables of chance, circumstance, and incorrect assumptions intervene to shape not just the arc of the scientists' lives, but the trajectory of how humans have come to understand one of our most pernicious diseases. Continual Raving is a mosaic tale of how science conquered meningitis -- and a larger story of the sometimes winding road to discovery.

Meningitis

Meningitis PDF

Author: Edward Willett

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780766011878

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Meningitis may feel like a flu or a cold at first, but it can be far more deadly. Author Edward Willett discusses the significance of this frightening illness, from its historical appearances and early scientific investigations to current efforts to create viable vaccines. He lists the symptoms of viral and bacterial meningitis and explores how meningitis affects the immune system. He suggests important ways to avoid contracting the disease as well as places to contact for more information.

Adverse Effects of Vaccines

Adverse Effects of Vaccines PDF

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-04-26

Total Pages: 894

ISBN-13: 0309214351

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In 1900, for every 1,000 babies born in the United States, 100 would die before their first birthday, often due to infectious diseases. Today, vaccines exist for many viral and bacterial diseases. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, passed in 1986, was intended to bolster vaccine research and development through the federal coordination of vaccine initiatives and to provide relief to vaccine manufacturers facing financial burdens. The legislation also intended to address concerns about the safety of vaccines by instituting a compensation program, setting up a passive surveillance system for vaccine adverse events, and by providing information to consumers. A key component of the legislation required the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collaborate with the Institute of Medicine to assess concerns about the safety of vaccines and potential adverse events, especially in children. Adverse Effects of Vaccines reviews the epidemiological, clinical, and biological evidence regarding adverse health events associated with specific vaccines covered by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), including the varicella zoster vaccine, influenza vaccines, the hepatitis B vaccine, and the human papillomavirus vaccine, among others. For each possible adverse event, the report reviews peer-reviewed primary studies, summarizes their findings, and evaluates the epidemiological, clinical, and biological evidence. It finds that while no vaccine is 100 percent safe, very few adverse events are shown to be caused by vaccines. In addition, the evidence shows that vaccines do not cause several conditions. For example, the MMR vaccine is not associated with autism or childhood diabetes. Also, the DTaP vaccine is not associated with diabetes and the influenza vaccine given as a shot does not exacerbate asthma. Adverse Effects of Vaccines will be of special interest to the National Vaccine Program Office, the VICP, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccine safety researchers and manufacturers, parents, caregivers, and health professionals in the private and public sectors.

Worth the Pain

Worth the Pain PDF

Author: Andy Marso

Publisher:

Published: 2013-10

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9781611691122

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Born at the beginning of the millenial or "me-first" generation, Andy Marso grew up believing he was smart, talented and entitled to his dreams. He coasted through school with minimal effort, but weeks before he entered the "real world," Marso was struck down by a bacterial infection that changed everything. In this first-person narrative, Marso, a professional journalist who has written for the Washington Post and the Topeka Capital-Journal, details a transformative months-long hospitalization in which he fights for his life and then his limbs. By the time he leaves the hospital, Marso will face a choice: continue to grasp futilely at the easy, comfortable life he knew, or embrace a new life more challenging than he ever imagined.--Back cover.

Emergency Cross-sectional Radiology

Emergency Cross-sectional Radiology PDF

Author: Daniel Y. F. Chung

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-04-19

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1107375975

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Cross-sectional imaging plays an ever-increasing role in the management of the acutely ill patient. There is 24/7 demand for radiologists at all levels of training to interpret complex scans, and alongside this an increased expectation that the requesting physician should be able to recognise important cross-sectional anatomy and pathology in order to expedite patient management. Emergency Cross-sectional Radiology addresses both these expectations. Part I demystifies cross-sectional imaging techniques. Part II describes a wide range of emergency conditions in an easy-to-read bullet point format. High quality images reinforce the findings, making this an invaluable rapid reference in everyday clinical practice. Emergency Cross-sectional Radiology is a practical aide-memoire for emergency medicine physicians, surgeons, acute care physicians and radiologists in everyday reporting or emergency on-call environments.

Bacterial Infections of the Central Nervous System

Bacterial Infections of the Central Nervous System PDF

Author: Karen L. Roos

Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences

Published: 2010-03-03

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0444520155

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Bacterial Infections of the Central Nervous System aims to provide information useful to physicians taking care of patients with bacterial infections in the central nervous system (CNS), which can lead to morbidity and mortality. The increased number of patients suffering from this infection has led to the development of vaccines and antibiotics. Comprised of four chapters, the book explains the general approach to patients with bacterial CNS infection. It also discusses various CNS infection concepts and terms. These include the characteristic neuroimaging appearance of specific bacterial infections, the limitations of neuroimaging, the cerebrospinal fluid analysis, the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of bacterial CNS infections, the developments of specific adjunctive strategies, and the principles of antimicrobial therapy. It also includes discussions on various diseases that target the CNS, such as meningitis, focal CNS infections, neurological complications of endocarditis, suppurative venous sinus thrombosis, infections in the neurosurgical patient, and CNS diseases caused by selected infectious agents and toxins. This book will serve as a guide for clinical physicians who have patients suffering from bacterial CNS infection.