Case history
Case history #1
A 1-month-old girl presents to her general practitioner with a high fever, feeding difficulties, and irritability for the past 24 hours. Examination reveals altered mental status and a bulging fontanelle.
Case history #2
A 15-year-old boy presents with a severe headache and fever that he has had for 3 days. Examination reveals fever, photophobia, and neck stiffness.
Other presentations
Classical signs of meningitis (neck stiffness, bulging fontanelle, high-pitched cry) are often absent in infants with bacterial meningitis.[2] In infants, the signs and symptoms can be non-specific and may include poor feeding, lethargy, respiratory distress, temperature instability, apnoea, bulging fontanelle, seizures, coma, and irritability.[4] Atypical clinical presentations also tend to occur in immunocompromised patients.[5]
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