Meningitis is a rare but potentially serious and fatal disease that requires emergency medical attention. Although viral meningitis tends to be less dangerous than bacterial meningitis, the two conditions often share the same initial symptoms, making early diagnosis crucial.

Symptoms of meningitis infection may appear in as little as 24 hours after infection, which typically follows a cold, runny nose, or diarrhea and vomiting. In many cases, though, symptoms do not appear for anywhere from two days to two weeks.

In some cases, newborns and infants exhibit few signs of meningitis apart from irritability and lethargy. Young children with meningitis sometimes display a symptom known as paradoxical irritability, in which they become even more distressed when picked up and rocked by an adult. Other symptoms sometimes associated with meningitis in newborns and infants include:

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin, whites of the eyes and mucous membranes)
  
  
• Neck rigidity
  
  
• Mild fever, or lower-than-normal temperature
  
  
• Poor eating or a weak sucking reflex
  
  
• High-pitched cry
  
  
• Bulging of the soft spot (fontanelle) on top of the skull
  
  
• Spasm causing extreme hyperextension of the body (opisthotonos) late in the disease

Symptoms of meningitis differ in older children and adults. They may include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Confusion or disorientation
• Stiff or painful neck
• Muscle aches or weakness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Seizures
• Sluggishness
• Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
• Skin rash (e.g., viral or meningococcal meningitis)

As symptoms unfold, they tend to be milder in cases of viral meningitis than they are in cases of bacterial meningitis.

Parents are urged to seek immediate emergency medical attention if their child has difficulty breathing (especially if the child turns blue), lapses into a coma or experiences a seizure.

A physician should also be consulted if a child is under 6 months old and has a fever of 100.2 degrees Fahrenheit (37.9 degrees Celsius), is over 6 months old and has a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius), has a fever and stiff neck and is vomiting, has a headache that progressively worsens, becomes increasingly drowsy or has a fever and rash and is confused or lethargic. Parents also should consult a physician if their child has a playmate who has been diagnosed with meningitis.