Having Bacterial Meningitis 3 times

[Oohlala]

Hello, I am a 17 year old girl that currently resides in Livingston, Scotland. When I was 4, I had caught Septicaemia and Pneumococcal Meningitis which had caused me to stay in the hospital over a course of 7 weeks which ended up in me spending Christmas time in hospital. A few years down the line, when I was around 10, I had caught Septicaemia and Pneumococcal again but it had been worse, I couldn’t walk properly and I had lost quite a bit of my memory but just two weeks ago, I had caught Streptococcus Pneumoniae which was cultured from peripheral blood and despite my CSF raising the amount of white blood cells, there was no bacterial cultures. This is all because of the little defect I have at the back of my nose. Because of that defect, I need to avoid certain activities, such as taking drugs and getting piercings in my nose and mouth region.

[Kamik84]

Omg you’ve really been though it. So sorry to hear how much you’ve suffered. My dad has bacterial meningitis pneumococcal type. I didn’t think you could get it again. My dad is meant to be having his injections to stop him having it again in the next few weeks. Have you had injections for this?

[Oohlala in reply to Kamik84]

I have had possibly almost all vaccines against it but we still didnt know what was causing it even though they done an endoscopic nasal repair so they think I can easily get it from a simple infection if it reaches my blood

[Jane425]

I had pneumococcal meningitis in 2017 from an ear infection. I had a hole in the bone above the inner ear, which shouldn't have been there, which allowed the bacteria to get into my brain. I had 2 lots of neurosurgery to mend the defects as they also discovered that I had a matching hole in the other ear. The consultant told me my chances of getting meningitis again are significantly reduced. I have made a full recovery and hope that you do as wel.

[Hidden]

Can the defect be repaired? Easily? "Easily," of course, is subjective, but I'd want to weigh the pros and cons of such surgery against further bouts of meningitis.

[Jane425 in reply to Hidden]

I can only talk about my personal experience. The defects were in my tegmun tympani. I had a craniotomy, the holes were fixed with bone shavings and titanium mini plates. I had one night in high dependency & a further 5 nights in hospital. I was signed off from work for 2 months & put on prophylactic anti- seizure medication for a couple of months.

[Hidden]

I'm recovering from a mastoidectomy. First two weeks were fine, or at least predictable. Now, I don't know. Too cheap to go to ER--I live in the states--so will sit in ENT's office tomorrow until he can see me. Fever, seizures, vomiting. Don't know that I can endure sella surgery after this.