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The central nervous system (CNS) has no lymphatic system as such, and although usually well protected from direct infection, its resistance to any infection that does occur is low. The patterns of infective illness are relatively few, but the organisms that can produce disease are many.
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Meningitis is the most common serious manifestation of infection of the central nervous system (CNS). Inflammatory involvement of the subarachnoid space with meningeal irritation leads to the classic triad of headache, fever and meningism, and to a pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
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Epidemiology and microbiology: the overall annual incidence of bacterial meningitis is about 2?3/100,000, with peaks of incidence in infants and adolescents. Integration of vaccines into the UK vaccination programme against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and more recently against group C meningococccus has led to a marked decline in cases of Hib and Group C meningococcal meningitis and has significantly reduced the overall incidence of bacterial meningitis.
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The following Clinical Topic Tour provides an overview of meningitis and was adapted from materials published by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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