meningitis......how catching?

frist sooo sorry to hear of you sister inlaws hope she gets well relly quickly . its very congtagous my brother had this and we all had to take a pill better safe the sorry and it will turn your urine orange

yeah you can still get it but take the drugs anyway - even if something does come of the contact it may reduce the severity , I owuld have to double check that

Also keep your hygiene in your own home extreme at the moment - to prevent passing it between those in the home in th event someone is harbouring the bug

good luck and fingers crossed you have managed to avoid it! x

meningitis itself is a name for the swelling of the brain tissue, and as someone previously said, it can be caused by bacteria or viruses.

The contagiousness totally depends on what caused it. Viral meningitis is more common than bacterial, but the meningitis might be just one symptom of illness; whereas bacterial meningitis or meningococcol disease is generally caused by a couple of strains of bacteria. If it's bacterial, it can be passed by close physical contact, and the bacteria can live in your body for days/weeks/months without causing disease (but then may cause meningitis if your immune system is overrun).

So short answer - take the drugs, and whether it's been passed on probably depends on how close the contact was between your SIL and kids.

Ditto what RJ said too - make sure people aren't coughing over each other etc. Hope it all turns out ok for you. At least you've got a bit of a heads' up, so you can be on the lookout for any symptoms appearing and know to act quickly.

and forgot to add, depending on the age of your kiddies, they may have also received the MeNZB immunisation? That would probably be of some help too (although that is assuming it was the Meningococcol B strain that caused it in the first place - otherwise it may not be of any help at all! )

Just saw your ticker, and obviously your DD won't have had it, but your DS may have? (They stopped vaccinations in 2006).

ETA: the new immunisation schedule includes vaccinations against Hib, which is another bacteria that causes meningitis. So maybe something that will help them!

Edited by blondy

Don't know about that one, might be worth giving Healthline a call to see if there are *official* requirements for staying out of the general public (like there are for measles etc).

And absolutely on the straight to hospital. Hope your SIL is doing ok, and that everyone in your household stays healthy.

lilfatty wrote: And that would have been the virologist Mum you were waiting on

haha I guess so!! switched on chicky you are blondy! thats a pretty fancy job!! arent we lucky you an oh baby mum!!