Bacterial meningitis primary prevention

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aysha Anwar, M.B.B.S[2]

Overview

Primary preventive measures which may help prevention of bacterial meningitis may include vaccination against meningococcal, pneumococcal and hemophilus influenza infection. Vaccination does not provide 100 percent protection. However, it may help to reduce the chances of acquiring the infection significantly especially in patient population who is immunocompromised or at extremes of age. Other preventive measures may include antibiotic chemoprophylaxis for patients exposed to Neisseria meningitides and Hemophilus influenza type b.

Primary prevention

Primary preventive measures to prevent bacterial meningitis include the following

Vaccination

There are three types of vaccination available for prevention of bacterial meningitis from three bacterial agents. These include:

Vaccinations
Type of Vaccination	Recommendations
Pneumococcal Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine(PCV13) Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine(PPSV23)	Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Children under 2 years of age Older people >65 years of age Individuals 2 to 65 years of with medical conditions such as patients with CKD, cochlear implants, asplenia Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine All adults 65 years or older People 2 to 65 years with certain medical conditions such as diabetes and chronic heart, lung or liver disease Adults 19 to 64 years who smoke cigarettes
Meningococcal Meningococcal conjugate vaccines Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine Serogroup B meningococcal vaccines	Children and adolescents age 11 through 18 Military recruits College students living in dorms Splenectomy or splenic damage Person having complement deficiency People travelling to endemic areas such as Africa
Hemophilus influenza type b (Hib) Hib conjugate vaccine	All children younger than 5 years of age People at increased risk of invasive hib infection such as asplenia, HIV infection Unvaccinated older individuals or adults with medical conditions

Other preventive measures

Other preventive measures which may help preventing meningitis may include:

Other preventive measures
Preventive strategy	Recommendations
Avoidance of risk factors	Decreased to no exposure to patients suffering from meningitis Following vaccination schedule if at high risk of acquiring the disease Appropriate chemoprophylaxis in case of exposure to the index case
Droplet precaution	People exposed to patients within three to six feet of the patient should wear surgical mask Doors of the room where patient resides should be kept open
Chemoprophylaxis	Chemopropylaxis required for suspected cases of meningococcal and hemophilus infection All household members Roomates or intimate contacts Child care workers People directly exposed to patient's respiratory or oral secretions Airline travelers seated close to affected person > 8 hours

References

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