What is meningitis?

What is meningitis?

• A. An infection and inflammation of the meninges; there are two types viral (aseptic) and bacterial meningitis.
• B. A degenerative brain disease.
• C. An autoimmune demyelinating disease.
• D. A type of brain tumor.

Answer: (A)

Meningitis is an infection and inflammation of the meninges, the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually due to an infection and can be viral (aseptic) or bacterial. Viral meningitis tends to be milder and often resolves on its own, while bacterial meningitis is more serious and requires urgent treatment because it can cause severe complications. In the context of diagnosis, bacterial meningitis typically shows a CSF profile with many neutrophils, high protein, and low glucose, whereas viral meningitis shows lymphocytes with normal glucose. The other options describe conditions not focused on the meninges: degenerative brain diseases affect brain tissue themselves, autoimmune demyelinating diseases involve loss of myelin around nerves, and a brain tumor is a mass lesion arising from brain tissue or its coverings. Here, the defining feature is infection and inflammation of the meninges.

Meningitis is an infection and inflammation of the meninges, the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually due to an infection and can be viral (aseptic) or bacterial. Viral meningitis tends to be milder and often resolves on its own, while bacterial meningitis is more serious and requires urgent treatment because it can cause severe complications. In the context of diagnosis, bacterial meningitis typically shows a CSF profile with many neutrophils, high protein, and low glucose, whereas viral meningitis shows lymphocytes with normal glucose.

The other options describe conditions not focused on the meninges: degenerative brain diseases affect brain tissue themselves, autoimmune demyelinating diseases involve loss of myelin around nerves, and a brain tumor is a mass lesion arising from brain tissue or its coverings. Here, the defining feature is infection and inflammation of the meninges.