Meningitis is an infection of the covering of the brain. It can go from a headache to a death in under a day, and Cameroon sits in the African meningitis belt, so it is not rare here. The treatment is an injection given at a facility. Nothing you can buy in a shop treats it.
Go to a hospital now if you see any one of these
One sign is enough. Do not wait for the rest to appear.
- A stiff neck. Ask the person to put their chin on their chest. If they cannot, or it hurts badly, go.
- Fever with a bad headache. Especially a headache that came on fast.
- Bright light hurts the eyes. They turn away from a window or a phone screen.
- Confusion, or very deep sleep. Not answering properly, or you cannot rouse them.
- A fit.
- A rash that does not fade. Press a clear glass on it. If the spots stay visible through the glass, go immediately.
- Vomiting with the headache.
In a baby, the signs look different
A baby cannot tell you their neck is stiff, so watch the body instead.
- A bulging soft spot on the top of the head.
- A high or shrill cry that does not sound like their usual cry.
- Floppy, or stiff and arching backwards.
- Refusing the breast, or vomiting feeds.
- Cold hands and feet with a hot body.
- Very sleepy and hard to wake.
Why speed decides this one
Meningitis doubles in severity by the hour. Someone who looks tired in the morning can be unconscious by evening. The people who survive well are almost always the ones who went early, when they still felt able to walk. That is the moment to go, not the moment to wait and see.
On the way
- Keep the person cool and in dim light.
- If they are not fully awake, lay them on their side.
- Give nothing by mouth to someone who is not fully awake.
- Tell the facility on arrival that you are worried about meningitis. Say the word. It changes how fast they are seen.
After a case in your house or school
People who were in close contact may need preventive antibiotics, and vaccination campaigns run during outbreaks in the north. Tell the health centre who else lives or sleeps in the same room. This is not alarmism, it is the standard response.
What not to do
- Do not treat it as malaria and wait for the test.
- Do not give only paracetamol and go back to bed.
- Do not travel to a distant hospital past a nearer one. The first injection matters more than the size of the building.
