Parasitic meningitis is a disease most often caused by parasites found in water bodies and those carried by animals. What are the causes and symptoms of parasitic meningitis? What is the treatment?
Parasitic meningitisis usually caused by the parasiteAcantamoeba(a type of amoeba that causes a parasitic disease called acanthambosis) and a protozoan Naegleria fowleri , which causes negleriosis. Infection caused byToxoplasm gondii(the protozoan that causes the zoonotic disease - toxoplasma) can also cause parasitic meningitis.
Parasitic meningitis - symptoms
Infection with parasites from the groupAcantamoebaandNaegleria fowlericauses fever, headache, coma and death.
InfectionToxoplasma gondiiis mainly choroiditis and retinitis that can lead to blindness. There are also headaches, dizziness and symptoms of spastic paralysis.
Parasitic Meningitis - Treatment
In case of infectionAcanthamoebaandNaegleria fowleriPatient is given amphotericin B. In case of infectionToxoplasma gondii treatment involves the use of pyrimethamine (an agent used, for example, in the treatment of malaria) with sulfadiazine or spiramycin.