what is the difference between flu and meningitis?
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In the early stages in young children and adolescents, meningitis appears to have similar symptoms to that of the flu. However, while both can cause a headache, the stiff neck of meningitis generally does not occur with the flu.
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In general, flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms are more intense. Colds are usually milder than flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.
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Symptoms of Pneumococcal Meningitis In some cases, the symptoms may develop sooner or later than that. The symptoms of pneumococcal meningitis usually come on rapidly. An infected person may develop the following: chest pain.
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Aseptic meningitis (AM) is a disease that causes grave clinical signs such as intensive neck pain, fever, and lethargy. The severity of this disease is reflected in the fact that affected animals require long-term, and in chronic cases, lifelong therapy with corticosteroids.
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Real flu (influenza) affects only your respiratory system — your nose, throat and lungs. Gastroenteritis, on the other hand, attacks your intestines, causing signs and symptoms, such as: Watery, usually nonbloody diarrhea — bloody diarrhea usually means you have a different, more severe infection.
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The symptoms of flu can include fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue (tiredness).
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Aseptic meningitis is an illness characterized by serous inflammation of the linings of the brain (i.e., meninges), usually with an accompanying mononuclear pleocytosis. Clinical manifestations vary, with headache and fever predominating.
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Children who attend school or day care are at an increased risk of catching a virus that can cause aseptic meningitis. Adults who work in these facilities are also at risk. People are more likely to develop meningitis if they have a condition that weakens their immune system, such as AIDS or diabetes.
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Influenza (flu). Caused by the influenza virus, the flu is more serious than the common cold and infects the lungs, throat and nose. Symptoms include sudden fever or feeling feverish, chills, cough, sore throat, loss of appetite, muscle aches, fatigue, runny nose, sneezing and watery eyes.
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Headache is a common accompaniment of systemic viral infections such as influenza. It is also common with sepsis. More rarely it may accompany other systemic infections. In intracranial infections, headache is usually the first and the most frequently encountered symptom.
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Viral meningitis usually begins with symptoms of a viral infection, such as fever, a general feeling of illness (malaise), cough, muscle aches, vomiting, loss of appetite, and headache. However, occasionally, people have no symptoms at first.
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A fever, headache, and other aches and pains are common with the flu but less so with colds. People who have colds usually have a stuffy nose and sore throat. That's less common when you have the flu. Flu symptoms often hit suddenly, which makes you weaker and weaker.
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You're more likely to sneeze and have a runny nose and sore throat than with either the flu or pneumonia. Colds don't usually cause a fever in adults.
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Doctors suspect viral meningitis based on symptoms and do a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to confirm the diagnosis. If people appear very ill, they are treated for bacterial meningitis until that diagnosis is ruled out.
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The first symptoms of meningitis typically happen very quickly – much like the flu, the symptoms of meningitis can come on quite suddenly and progress in a short amount of time.
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Certain flu symptoms tend to last longer than others. The fever typically resolves in two to three days but can last as long as a week or more. The sore throat often gets worse even while the rest of the symptoms resolve, and can easily last a week or longer. Gastrointestinal symptoms are not typical of the flu.
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Early symptoms can be similar to the flu. However, having a stiff neck in addition to flu-like symptoms could be a key clue that meningitis is the problem and should be checked by a doctor. Patients should seek immediate medical attention if a stiff neck is accompanied by a fever, headache and/or nausea.