Causes
Each type of meningeal infection has a somewhat different cause, but all of these eventually acts in the same way. A bacterium, virus, fungus, or parasite (including amoeba) enters the bloodstream until it travels to the spinal cord and brain. There, it causes inflammation of the lining or fluids around these important body organs and starts growing into a more advanced infection.
Non-infectious meningitis, on the other hand, doesn’t involve infection and commonly develops as a result of a physical injury or other condition.
Signs and Symptoms
All types of meningitis share common signs and symptoms with some distinct features that will be discussed under each subheading.
Stiffness
Neck and back stiffness occurs because of the swelling of the meninges (or membranes) that encase the spinal cord and brain. It’s this inflammation that causes stiffness and discomfort. If you are experiencing sudden headache and fever along with a stiff neck or back, you could have developed meningitis. Stiffness along with other symptoms indicate that you should get testing and treatment to confirm or rule out the underlying cause.
Viral meningitis is often caused by several species of enteroviruses. Many types of enteroviruses cause meningitis with a mild cold or flu-like symptoms. Neck and back stiffness can be a sign of viral meningitis, but this form of meningeal inflammation is not usually as harmful to your health as bacterial ones. Depending on the causative agent, there are multiple types of meningitis and their severity of causing stiffness ranges from mild to potentially fatal. Bacterial meningitis is known to cause severe complications if it goes undiagnosed and untreated for several weeks.