Post Bacterial Meningitis

[Liz-D]

I'm curious to know if anyone has had a bout of Impetigo at any point in their lives following Bacterial Meningitis? A few weeks ago I developed what I thought was a pimple at the right side of my mouth. It quickly became clear that it was no ordinary spot, it grew, formed a horrid crust and wept. It was awful! My GP guessed straight away what it was and put me on a course of antibiotics. Thankfully they worked, though I'm now left with a scar where the thing was. I looked up Impetigo and discovered that it is from the same bacteria as Meningitis. I'm a bit worried now that I could suffer from a worse bout of Impetigo, or worse, another bout of Meningitis! Any advice appreciated. 😊

[StrawberryCream]

Hi Liz

I haven't had impetigo but I do know it is very contagious and most often passed around by school children. It is very common. I don't think that you are at any increased risk of the impetigo causing another episode of BM more than any other strain of cough and cold bug that we all carry naturally in the back of our noses and throats which mostly don't cause us to be ill. Why in a very few of us our bodies allow the bugs to cross the blood brain barrier and cause meningitis is not really known but it is possibly thought to be more likely to happen when our immune system is reduced because of other illness or treatments or maybe being under high levels of stress means our immune system can also be weaker. It is very rare that someone gets meningitis more than once, although it does happen. For you you will have a natural immunity now to the particular strain of BM that you had so unless you had eg chemo which would wipe out your immunity you should not get the same strain again. But if you were extremely 'unlucky' (don't like that word!) you could get a different strain but I again point out to keep it in perpesctive that most people only contract it once! I can totally understand your fear though!! But somehow you have to try and not get panicked ever time you have and infection or cold/flu that it is going to cause meningitis. Otherwise I fear you are going to be living in a constant state of fear which will affect your wellbeing.

Best wishes x

[Liz-D in reply to StrawberryCream]

Thanks ever so much for that. Yes, I know about the bug that lives in our throats/noses. Unfortunately, my immune system is pretty well shot, a combination of the original BM attack and M.E., which I now have. Seems, these days, that I permanently have a headache and sore throat though. I'm usually able to keep the worry at bay, but the family can be very jittery. My GP is fairly good and monitors me regularly, and I try to keep as healthy as I can. I was just knocked for six when the Impetigo struck, and more so when I found it's in the same Bacterial family as BM!

It's nice to know that the chances of recurrence are slim, though not to be ruled out completely. Thanks again for the reply, I do feel a little more at ease.

Take care.

L x

[StrawberryCream in reply to Liz-D]

Likewise, my son who was 5 yrs when I contracted BM & S and is now 9 yrs, panics everytime now that I am even a bit unwell!!!