Meningococcus (Meningococcus, Plural Meningococci)

Meningococcus (pl. Meningococci) is one of the most dangerous bacteria associated with the development of meningitis and other serious infections. This bacterium belongs to the species Neisseria meningitidis and can cause a serious form of septicemia.

Meningococcus is a gram-negative bacterium that comes in the form of a coccus or diplococcus. It is usually found in groups that can be easily seen under microscopic examination. Meningococcus is a resident of the upper respiratory tract and can be transmitted from person to person through coughing, sneezing or kissing.

Meningococcal infections can present in a variety of ways, including meningitis, septicemia, pneumonia, and other infections. Meningitis is an inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord that can lead to serious consequences, including central nervous system dysfunction and even death. Septicemia is a severe blood infection that can lead to septic shock and organ failure.

Treatment of meningococcal infections usually includes the use of antibiotics as well as maintaining vital body functions. In addition, other treatment methods are used, depending on the specific situation.

Vaccination is an effective way to prevent meningococcal infections. There are different types of vaccines that can prevent or mitigate the infection. This is especially important for people at risk, such as travelers, military personnel, students, dormitory residents and others.

In conclusion, meningococcus is a serious threat to human health and can cause various dangerous infections. It is important to take steps to prevent infection, including vaccination and good hygiene. If you experience symptoms of meningitis or other meningococcal infections, you should immediately contact your doctor for medical help.

Meningococcus (Latin meningōcoccus - “meningitis, scalp cavity”, French - Greek βακτηρίως baktérios - “harmful microorganism” English meningoccal - “sepsis, organ disease”) (Neisseria Meningitidis) is a type of pathogenic bacteria that are human pathogens. It is also called Sturge-Scheuermann disease after the two doctors who first described the disease in 1883 and 1904.

The name of the disease is meningococcal infection. But in everyday life it is simply called meningococcal fever. This word alone causes a lot of fears and concerns. Only a strong human immune system can cope with this disease, but doctors note that the disease often takes the form of an epidemic. Not only small children suffer from it, but adults also become its victims. This disease also poses a great danger to pregnant women.

In such patients, the disease is very severe, with subsequent complications: inflammatory processes in the kidneys, various complications and the birth of children as a result of premature birth. The disease caused by meningococcus has been known for more than 150 years. Despite this, until the end of the 20s of the 20th century, the opinion about it as a disease of the upper respiratory tract spread without any changes. So, in 1923, the famous Russian microbiologist A.I. Abelyashev and the Soviet bacteriologist N.F. Gamaleya also believed that meningitis could be provoked by various upper respiratory tract infections: acute respiratory infections, influenza, rheumatism. Only later, after the application of genetic engineering methods in bacteriological practice, was humanity able to determine the causative agent of the inflammatory process. At first, meningococcus was designated as “a bacterium similar to a microbe from the group of diplococci,” and only after researchers were convinced that this was the same microorganism did it receive its