It is no longer being maintained and may contain information that is out of date. You may find more current information on this topic in more recent issues of FDA Consumer or elsewhere on the FDA Website, by checking the site index or home page , or by searching the site. Sometimes Fatal Disease by Dodi Schultz Bacterial meningitis is not solely a childhood disease, but a disproportionate number of its victims are infants and children. The symptoms and the speed of their onset can strike terror in the heart of a parent. Suddenly, the youngster is irritable, running a high fever, complaining of headache, and vomiting.
Infants develop an eerie, high-pitched cry.
Muscles in the neck and elsewhere may stiffen. The child may become delirious, slip into a coma, or have convulsions. An alarmed parent's first impulse under these circumstances is to seek emergency medical care. It is precisely the right response. Before the advent of antibiotics, the vast majority of bacterial meningitis cases, in those of all ages, proved fatal.