Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 2012-07-01

A history of acute bacterial meningitis.

Anouk Uiterwijk, Peter J Koehler

Index: J. Hist. Neurosci. 21(3) , 293-313, (2012)

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Abstract

Although meningitis was not yet known as such, its symptoms have been conceptualized in different ways and many theories about its causes have been formulated in the course of time. Terms like hydrocephalus and brain fever were used for different clinical manifestations of what today would be recognized as meningitis. Pathological-anatomical findings led to the emergence of the clinical entity from several old concepts of disease. Initially, diagnostic means were limited and therapeutic methods did not differ much from those that had been applied for centuries, even far into the nineteenth century. Discoveries in bacteriology and the introduction of the lumbar puncture provided a new paradigm for knowledge of the pathophysiology and treatment of what then became known with the term meningitis. The development of new therapeutic methods including antiserum, sulfonamides, and penicillin resulted in a decreasing mortality during the past century. Nowadays, with the use of antibiotics, bacterial meningitis can often be cured.