Meningitis Case Study Essay

Upon an initial assessment of the patient, my first suspicion would be that he is suffering from meningitis. Meningitis is defined as an acute inflammation that affects the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. There are many different types of bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms that can cause a person to suffer from meningitis. Since this inflammation can cause serious damage to the brain and spinal cord, this diagnosis is life threatening. The tell-tale signs of meningitis are neck stiffness or nuchal rigidity and fever. According to the information presented in the case study, our patient is experiencing neck stiffness and a fever of 103.7 degrees Fahrenheit. If my suspicions are correct, we would need to perform a spinal tap. This procedure would require the patient to lie on his side with the knees bent. The doctor would clean the lumbar area of the spine and inject numbing …show more content…
Based on the description of the cells, I am lead to believe that this may be a fungus. When researching fungus that can cause meningitis, I came across Cryptococcal meningitis. This is caused by a fungus called Cryptococcus neoforman. Other types of fungal meningitis can be caused by Coccidioides immitis, Candida, or Histoplasma capsulatum. In addition to the spinal tap, we may also need to run other test to determine the best possible treatment for this patient. Other diagnostic test may include blood studies, such as complete blood count, serum electrolytes, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, liver profile, and serum glucose which is compared with the cerebral spinal fluid glucose. We should also test any respiratory secretions, lesion cultures, syphilis testing, and urine cultures. Neuroimaging, such as a CT or MRI would be beneficial as