How to detect and treat meningitis in children?

It is one of the obsessions of young parents: that their baby contract meningitis.

This disease, as unpredictable as it is potentially devastating, affects an average of 8,000 people and is responsible for 50 to 60 deaths each year in France.

Main population at risk: toddlers.

"The less than 1 year old are ten times more affected than the rest of the population. 3-5 year olds, adolescents and the elderly are also more affected than the average", explains Dr. Delphine Menard.

The general practitioner explained on Wednesday in the program "Sans Rendez-Vous" on Europe 1 how to identify and treat this "serious and unpredictable" disease.

>> Find all of Sans rendez-vous in replay and podcast here

What are the symptoms of meningitis?

Meningitis is inflammation of the meninges, that "membrane that envelops the central nervous system, brain, and spinal cord."

"An infection of the meninges is an infection of this membrane and of the cerebrospinal fluid which can be due to a virus, a bacterium or a fungus", specifies Dr. Menard.

"It's lightning and overwhelming, a person can die in 24 hours. At the start the symptoms are very common with a sore throat but very often there is a high fever. I tell parents to take their temperature. children, because a child can have a normal temperature of 36 or 37.2 degrees. We have to see what is the general condition of the person, "warns the general practitioner.

Stiff neck is also a hallmark symptom of meningitis, but it is not always present in toddlers.

"If there is no difficulty in flexing the neck, that does not mean that there is no meningitis. Especially in toddlers, we have this valve which is the fontanel (membranes that separate the bones from the skull): up to 8-10 months, some children may not necessarily have a stiff neck. "

Parents' purpura and instinct, other alerts

The onset of purpura can also be a symptom of meningitis.

"The purpura are purplish spots that are on the skin and can be everywhere. These are spots that show an advanced state of the disease."

But many parents aren't suspicious of purpura.

"A study two to three years ago showed that only 8% of adults associated meningitis with purpura. Another way to see it is that this task does not disappear when you press it, it persists. tell parents to put a clear glass with a clear background on the skin, and when you look in the glass the stain remains, "advises the doctor.

Doctor Menard also asks parents to listen to their instincts.

"It is not very medical, and for all that it is important to say it: if you find that your baby is not as usual, trust yourself. It can be the case if he does not eat, if he is prostrate, if he moans. These signs can also be found in adolescents. "

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Quick support is essential

Meningitis requires in any case "the fastest possible treatment".

"Antibiotics must be started very quickly. The lumbar puncture in the hospital will make it possible to search for cerebrospinal fluid. And when there is a purpura we can do skin biopsies", specifies Dr. Menard.

The management must be all the earlier since many patients have sequelae of meningitis.

"One in five survivors will have sequelae. There may be amputations of limbs or parts of limbs. There may be deafness, blindness but also psychological disorders and post-traumatic stress."

A compulsory vaccine for toddlers

To protect against this risk as much as possible, there is a compulsory vaccine for meningitis C. "It is done at five months and at twelve months. For nursery and to go back to school, it is compulsory. The preferred target these are toddlers and also adolescents. For meningococci there is also a vaccine that is offered when you travel, because it is much less in France ", details the doctor.

For worried parents, Dr. Menard adds that the vaccine can indeed cause side effects, but simply taking paracetamol will limit them.

"From time to time, the meningococcal vaccine can cause fever, especially if it is injected with another vaccine. Paracetamol should then be given before the injection and then a few hours later."