The spread of meningitis
Most of the agents that cause infectious meningitis spread through close contact. Many of them live in the respiratory tract; this makes it easy to travel from one person to another very rapidly, causing epidemics. Some people carry the bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis in their nose and throat without getting an infection. Carriers those carrying the infectious agent but without showing any signs or symptoms of the disease. Carriers are very dangerous; they can spread the infection without being noticed or getting treatment.
There are still particular types of meningitis that spread in unique ways. Pregnant mothers can infect their babies with Group B Streptococcus and E. coli during delivery. Eating contaminated food with E. coli or L. monocytogenes can lead to meningitis. The infection can even start from inside the body, as in the case of Candida, a special type of fungus that lives inside the body peacefully when you have a normal immune system. When your immune system becomes compromised, Candida starts to be fatal and may cause fungal meningitis. As previously mentioned, you can get meningitis by swimming in water contaminated with Naegleria fowleri, which will take your nose as a way to your brain, where it will cause amebic meningitis. You can get meningitis by non-infectious causes mentioned before. Non-infectious meningitis cannot spread from one person to another.
