THE TERM 'meningitis' refers to both bacterial and viral infections of the meninges, the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
Bacterial meningitis is the more serious of the two.
Infants may have illness without sudden onset and stiff neck. Even when the disease is diagnosed early and treated quickly, it is fatal between five and 10 per cent of the time and as much of 50 per cent without treatment. Up to one in seven of survivors is left with severe handicap, such as deafness or brain damage. People of any age can carry these germs for days, weeks or months without becoming ill. In fact, being a carrier helps boost natural immunity to the disease.