Meningococcemia

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Medical Author:

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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• Meningococcemia is a bloodstream infection cause by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis.
• N. meningitidis is a contagious bacterium and is spread from person to person via respiratory secretions.
• Initially, patients present with fever and general aches. A rash is often present. Patients with meningococcemia are seriously ill.
• Complications include shock, failure of multiple organs, lack of circulation to the extremities, and death. Patients may also develop or present with meningitis.
• Meningococcemia is treated with intravenous antibiotics.
• Case fatality rates are as high as 19% in industrialized countries. Early treatment reduces the risk of complications and death.
• A vaccine is available to help prevent four of the five most common serogroups that cause meningococcemia. The vaccine is recommended at 11 years of age, with a booster dose at 16 years of age.
• People who have a certain type of immune deficiency in the complement system and people with missing or damaged spleens are at increased risk and should be vaccinated.
• People who travel to areas where outbreaks are occurring should be vaccinated before travel.
• People who have had close contact with an infected patient (for example, a household member with face-to-face contact, a child's playmate, etc.) should receive antibiotics to reduce the risk of disease. These "prophylactic" antibiotics should be started as soon as possible but certainly within two weeks of exposure.