Q. I've heard that college students are at higher risk than normal for meningitis. The disease is deadly serious but, fortunately, relatively rare. Most patients recover without incident, but about 10 percent develop other serious health problems, including mental retardation, hearing loss, and gangrene serious enough to require amputation of extremities. Meningitis can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection.
Bacterial meningitis is another story.
Early symptoms may develop over several hours or several days, and include high fever, headache, and a stiff neck. Nausea, vomiting, discomfort while looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness are also common. As the infection spreads through the whole body, it can damage organs and tissues, cause seizures and permanent brain damage, and in some cases, death. Therefore, the sooner the disease is diagnosed, and antibiotic treatment begins, the better. Anyone who has been in close contact with a meningitis patient should also be treated with antibiotics as a preventive measure.