Menigitis

Structure

Structure

Neisseria Menigitidis is a aerobic, gram-negative bacterium being composed of a coccus or diplococcus structure. It has many unique features that can make it particulaly effective at taking over host cells such as:

Pilli - Long tail-like appendages branching out from the cell allowing it to attach to the cell and overtake it.

Lipooligosaccharide (LOS) - Long toxins made of lipids and polyssacharide which can destroy red + white bloods cells to defend its self causing shock.

polysaccharide capsule - A Hard capsule around the bacteria which prevents it from being encircled and destroyed by bacteria, prevent it from being killed by red blood cells.

Serious Impacts

Serious Effects

The effects of this disease can be very deadly and extreme. As the disease destroys blood cells to survive it can severly reduce blood pressure and cause shock, leading to strokes which can kill. If the disease is able to enter the spinal cords it can destroy nerve cells which can paralyse or kill.

Symptoms

Symptoms

The symptoms are quite tame for this disease in early stages such as:

• Fever and chills.
• Fatigue (feeling tired)
• Vomiting.
• Cold hands and feet.
• Severe aches or pain in the muscles, joints, chest, or abdomen (belly)
• Rapid breathing.
• Diarrhea.
• In the later stages, a dark purple rash.

Vaccines

Vaccination

In Australia, mandatory vaccination has come out in relation to meningoccal, due to its severe effects. This means that over 97% (Dep. of Health-2018) of people under 30 are vaccinated against the disease, this has greatly dropped the infection rate and the severity of the infection.

Assessment

Assessment

Overall, the virulence of meningoccal is very high, it can kill many people even those with strong immune systems however, in the last 10 years many vaccines against the disease have prevent the spread and lessened the effects of the disease. Thus in present day the disease can be only some-what virulent in early stages however can still be deadly if not caught early.

Africa

Africa

Meningoccal A, B, C, X, W, and Z are very prevalent in poor regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, so called the "Mengitis Belt" from Senegal to Ethiopia. These disease can spread from person to person where, without treatment they often kill.

Western Nations

Meningoccal in the west has mostly been overcome in the western Nations. With massive vaccine numbers, the amount of infections has steeply dropped with the death rate falling from around 50% (common in African nations to this day) to somewhere around 12%.

The West

Analysis

Analysis

As we can see on the graph, the number of infectious host has dropped substantially after subsiquent vaccine roll-outs in Australia. This shows how vaccines have dropped the case numbers substantially, thus showing the evalated risk of those unable to access them. This can explain the wide-spread outbreaks and epidemics of the disease across africa, perhaps due to the lack of vaccination access in the area.