What are the symptoms of meningitis in children?

As parents, what we worry about most is the problem of our children getting sick. However, every child is bound to get sick during their growth period, so parents need to understand the onset of their children’s illness, effectively treat it, and prevent their children from getting any disease. Everyone knows that pediatric meningitis is the disease that has the most serious impact on children's brains. Once suffering from this disease, timely treatment is required, otherwise problems with the child's brain may lead to cerebral palsy, which endangers the child's health throughout his life. So what are the symptoms of pediatric meningitis?

Meningitis in children is generally purulent meningitis. The main clinical manifestations can be summarized as: acute fever, convulsions, impaired consciousness, increased intracranial pressure and meningeal irritation signs, and purulent changes in cerebrospinal fluid. The specific symptoms are described as follows:

(1) Symptoms of infection, poisoning and acute brain dysfunction: including fever, irritability and progressively worsening impaired consciousness. As the disease worsens, the child gradually develops from lethargy, drowsiness, stupor, coma to deep coma. More than 30% of children have recurrent generalized or localized seizures. Meningococcal infection is prone to bruising, petechiae, and shock.

(2) Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure include headache and vomiting. In infants, symptoms include a full and tense anterior fontanelle and an enlarged head circumference. When combined with brain herniation, there are signs such as irregular breathing, sudden worsening of impaired consciousness or unequal pupil size.

(3) Meningeal irritation signs: Neck stiffness is the most common

The main symptoms of meningitis include drowsiness, fever, vomiting, refusal to eat, increased crying, restless sleep, severe headache, muscle stiffness (especially in the neck), aversion to bright light and loud noises, etc. The forehead of a baby with meningitis will become raised and tight. Some babies will develop a special rash after meningitis (pink or purple, flat, and does not fade when pressed with fingers).

Typically, the initial symptoms are followed soon by progressive drowsiness and occasionally by coma or seizures.

Meningitis is very harmful to your baby. If meningitis caused by a bacterial infection is not treated promptly, it can quickly progress to a dangerous stage. The younger the baby, the greater the chance of brain damage. In severe cases, the baby may suffer from mental disabilities, cerebral palsy, or even death.

From the above content, we know the symptoms of pediatric meningitis. Pediatric meningitis is extremely harmful to children and even life-threatening, so parents must understand the cause of this disease, do a good job of prevention, and let children develop good living habits. In addition, parents must pay attention to the child’s diet and do not let the child drink beverages frequently.