meningitis is a rare infection that affects the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord these membranes are referred to as meninges meningitis causes inflammation in these membranes and could trigger headache brain fever and a person suffering from meningitis may also experience stiffness in necktypes of meningitistypes of meningitis include1 bacterial meningitis2 viral meningitis3 chronic meningitis4 fungal meningitisbacterial meningitisbacterial meningitis is a lifethreatening disease mostly bacterial meningitis spreads among people who are in close contact with each other the bacteria enters the bloodstream and travels to the brain and spinal cordanother reason that a person gets affected by bacterial meningitis is when bacteria affects the brain membranes ear or sinus infection or skull fracture are a few reasons that may cause bacteria to invade the brain membranesbacteria that can cause acute meningitis arestreptococcus pneumoniae pneumococcus this bacterium mostly infects infants young children and adults a person affected by this bacterium can get pneumonia ear or sinus infectionslisteria monocytogenes listeria this is mainly found in unpasteurized cheese and luncheon meats canned meats people who have a weaker immune system are more susceptible to these bacteriahaemophilus influenzae haemophilus this bacterium was one of the leading factors of bacterial meningitis but the introduction of its vaccination has reduced the numberneisseria meningitidis meningococcus this is another cause of bacterial meningitis these bacteria when affect a person can cause a respiratory infection this bacterium is highly contagious and can affect teenagers and young adultsviral meningitisthe infection caused by viral meningitis is less serious and often goes by its own but this virus once triggered can even cause diarrhea viruses like herpes simplex virus and hiv can also cause viral meningitischronic meningitischronic meningitis is the result of a slowgrowing virus that surrounds membranes mostly these bacteria take two or more weeks to grow and affect a person a person suffering from chronic meningitis might experience fever headache vomiting and mental fog fungal meningitisfungal meningitis is rare and can be responsible for causing chronic meningitis as this is not contagious there are fewer chances that it may spread from one person to another however cryptococcal meningitis is a fungal form which if not treated properly can be lifethreateningin some cases meningitis can also result from noninfectious causes like chemical reactions or drug allergiesmeningitis symptomsthe symptoms of meningitis may take hours to few weeks to develop and signs include1 sudden high fever2 severe headache3 stiff neck4 headache with nausea or vomiting5 seizures6 confusion or difficulty concentrating7 fatigue8 sensitivity to light9 rashes on the skinit should be noted that signs and symptoms may differ in the newborns they might show1 high fever2 constant crying and discomfort3 excessive sleepiness4 staying inactive5 fontanelle which is a bulge in the soft spot especially on babys head6 stiffness in babys neck or bodymeningitis complicationsmeningitis can be responsible for many health complications if the disease is not treated timely it can worsen and make an infected person susceptible to neurological damage and at a higher risk of seizures 1 loss of hearing