Stem Cell Therapies

Stem Cell Therapy

Meningitis is an infectious disease that affects the special coverage of the organs of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and the spinal cord. They are also referred to as the meninges. The most prevalent symptoms of this disease include fever, the rigidity of the neck, and headache. Other symptoms associated with this disease are a loss of changed consciousness, confusion, nausea, vomiting, and inability to withstand light or noises. The symptoms might be different in children. In most cases, they present with nonspecific symptoms such as the inability to feed well, tiredness, drowsiness, and irritability and so on. They might also present with a rash. This might indicate a particular type of meningitis. For example, meningococcal meningitis might present with a rash. There are several types of meningitis. They include bacterial, viral and fungal meningitis. On one hand, bacterial meningitis tends to be usually severe and can be lethal. They also spread easily, especially in people close to each other. On the other hand, viral meningitis presents with less serious symptoms. In fact, a majority of patients recover from this disease without much or no treatment. Fungal meningitis is an uncommon variant of the disease, that occurs when a patient’s immune system has been compromised. A lumbar puncture is usually done to exclude this during diagnosis. A long needle is inserted between the L2 and L3 vertebrae, and the cerebrospinal fluid is tapped. This fluid is then examined in the laboratory for the presence of meningitis. Some variants of meningitis can be prevented by undergoing vaccination. In addition, this disease can be prevented by treating people exposed to this disease with antibiotics. Drugs such as corticosteroids can also be used to prevent the complications of severe inflammation of the meninges. Allogenic stem cell transplantation has been dubbed as the future of meningitis treatment. Those in the stem cell business are working tirelessly on research and experiments to make this happen. This disease can lead to severe complications such as loss of hearing, epilepsy and cognitive deficits.

What Are The Symptoms Of Meningitis?

The most prevalent symptom in adults is a severe headache. This happens in about 90% of cases of bacterial meningitis. This is followed closely by neck rigidity, which occurs because of the stiffness and increased muscle tone of the neck. The three major symptoms that are usually seen are neck rigidity, sudden high fever, and changed mental status. However, it’s important to know that these 3 symptoms only occur in about 45% of bacterial meningitis cases. A meningitis diagnosis cannot be made without the presence of these symptoms. Other symptoms of meningitis are photophobia and fear of sound.

The symptoms of meningitis are usually different in children. They do not present with the symptoms above, but instead, they do exhibit symptoms such as irritability, and lethargy. The anterior fontanelle might also swell up, especially in children under the age of 6 months. Other symptoms that help to differentiate meningitis from other diseases in children include pain in the lower extremities, cold in the limbs, and a change in skin color. Meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitides can be distinguished from other types by a petechial rash that spreads rapidly, and that usually presents other symptoms. The rash is usually non-blanching, that is it does not disappear when pressed.

What Are The Causes Of Meningitis?

Meningitis is a severe infectious disease that can be caused by either bacteria or virus. Other less common causes of this disease are fungi, cancer drugs, autoimmunity, tuberculosis and syphilis.

  1. Bacterial meningitis: Bacterial meningitis is usually severe. It’s important to seek medical help when noticed. This disease can lead to the damage to the brain or even death if not properly managed. There a number of bacteria that can cause this disease. Some of these bacteria are Streptococcus pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Neisseria meningitides, and Listeria. In most cases, this disease starts when bacteria gain access and infects the blood through the sinuses, ears or the throat. These bacteria then travel from the place to the brain. The bacteria are spread when the infected individual sneezes or coughs.
  2. Viral meningitis: This type of meningitis is usually less serious as compared to bacterial meningitis. There are some viral diseases that can induce the development of this disease. Some of these diseases are mumps virus, varicella zoster virus, and herpes simplex virus.
  3. Fungal meningitis: This type of meningitis rarely occurs; it mostly happens to individuals that have a compromised immune system. Examples of people that can have fungal meningitis are individuals undergoing an immunosuppression therapy, and also people with a disease like AIDS. The most common fungal meningitis is cryptococcal meningitis. This is the most prevalent cause of death in patients affected by AIDS, in Africa.
  4. Parasitic meningitis: This type of meningitis is caused by some parasites such as Schistosoma, cysticercosis and so on. The can be detected by the presence of a large number of eosinophils in the cerebrospinal fluid.
  5. Other causes of meningitis: This disease may occur as a result of the metastasis of cancer from one part of the body to the meninges. In addition, there are some drugs that can induce the development of meningitis, some of these medications are antibiotics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Meningitis can also be caused by the other diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis and so on.

How Is Meningitis Currently Treated?

The early diagnosis is crucial for a positive outcome. The patient usually has a better prognosis, if the disease is diagnosed and treated early, as compared when it’s diagnosed at a severe stage of the disease. Physicians usually start with broad-spectrum antibiotics treatment, even before the result of the test comes out. Benzylpenicillin is the drug to be administered before transferring the patient to the hospital. Drugs that are prescribed for the treatment of this disease include ceftriaxone, and vancomycin is given if there is resistance to the antibiotics.

Stem Cell Therapy And Meningitis

Apart from administering antibiotics, fluids, and other medications, stem cell therapy is will soon become a more effective, and a good alternative to the present way of treating meningitis. According to a journal posted by the Pediatrics Transplantation journal, it was discovered that a 19-year-old patient was successfully treated with by the administration of allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

References

Abbas, A., Shukla, R., Ahuja, R., Gupta, R., Singh, K. and Saxena, S. (2015). Visual Impairment in HIV Negative Tuberculosis Meningitis. Journal of Meningitis, 01(01).

Chaaban, S., Wheat, L. and Assi, M. (2014). Cryptococcal meningitis post autologous stem cell transplantation. Transplant Infectious Disease, 16(3), pp.473-476.

Meningitis. (2002). JAMA, 287(3), p.384.

Trubetskoy, A. (2004). Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Diagnosed Enteroviral Meningitis in Adults with Aseptic Meningitis. Academic Emergency Medicine, 11(5), pp.554-554.