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Meningitis Causes

What are the Causes of Meningitis?

Meningitis is usually caused by bacteria or viral infections.

Viruses that can cause meningitis include:

  • Enteroviruses (most common cause of viral infections)
  • Herpes simplex virus type 2
  • Varicella zoster virus
  • Mumps virus
  • HIV

Bacterial infections commonly include infection by:

  • Neisseria meningitidis
  • Haemophilus influenza B
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae

Other less common causes of meningitis include infections by fungi, amoeba and protozoa.

Non-infectious causes of meningitis include systemic diseases like SLE, sarcoidosis, polyarteritis nodosa, rheumatoid arthritis, toxins, certain medications and malignancies. Meningitis caused by non-infectious agents is called sterile meningitis because no microorganism is isolated from the spinal fluid.


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