What is Meningitis?
Brief History
Over the decades many different treatments have been used in an attempt to cure meningitis, from the use of emetics to cause vomiting to bloodletting by leeches. It wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that an immune serum was produced to help fight the viral infection. The serum was created by using antibodies from other animals, such as horses, who had been exposed to the meningitis-causing bacteria. This serum was injected in the spinal fluid of the infected person. This was likely the treatment used during that fateful cruise in 1936.
It wasn't until 1944 that penicillin was first reported to be effective in treating meningitis, eight years after the incident on the T.S. California State. During World War II there were numerous outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis, which was one of the first times penicillin was used on a mass scale. One report described an outbreak among 71 soldiers, during which only one died.
Diagnosis, then and today
Focus on Spinal Meningitis
Symptoms
Spinal meningitis is an infection of the fluid and membranes around the brain and spinal cord. Often the first noticeable symptom is the inability to move one's neck due inflammation. Infections can be bacterial or viral and can take between 10 days to two weeks for symptoms to begin. Once they do, the infection spreads throughout the body, often resulting in brain damage, and can be fatal within a matter of hours. Beyond the stiff neck there is often fever, headache, aches and pains, vomiting, and seizures.
Transmission
The bacteria that causes meningitis can spread through respiratory droplets. Close and prolonged contact can lead to an epidemic. The close quarters seen on the T.S. California State was the perfect setting for a potential outbreak, and necessesitated some of the quarantine measures taken after the illness was discovered.
Prevention
Today people typically get a vaccine for meningitis by 2 months of age, with additional booster shots given later in life. Pre-emptive vaccination is seen to be the best deterrent.
Sources
-
CoMO. (2020, July 21). The history of meningitis: Causes, treatment and vaccines. CoMO. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.comomeningitis.org/post/the-history-of-meningitis-causes-treatment-and-vaccines
-
Mandal, D. A. (2019, February 27). History of meningitis. News. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.news-medical.net/health/History-of-Meningitis.aspx#:~:text=Meningitis%20outbreak%20was%20first%20recorded,States%20were%20described%20shortly%20afterward.
-
Spinal Meningitis. Cedars. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/s/spinal-meningitis.html#:~:text=Spinal%20meningitis%20is%20an%20infection,be%20fatal%20within%2024%20hours.
-
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Meningitis. World Health Organization. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/meningitis#tab=tab_1