Term: meningitis
Literally meaning: “inflammation of meninges”
Origin: Anc Greek
μήνιγξ/meninx(=meninx,
one of the three membranes enveloping the
brain and spinal cord.
+-ίτις/-tis(=suffix which is used with the feminine noun η νόσος/ nosos/=disease,
denoting “inflammation of”).
According Greek Monk and medical philosopher Meletios(7th-8th cen) in his work «Περί της του ανθρώπου κατασκευής/About human structure» Migne, Vol 64, p 1149, meninx was derived by word μένειν/menein(stay, remain): “δια του μένειν εν αυταίς τον εγκέφαλον =by remaining (menein) next to brain.
Coined/History
Mengitis is considerated that was
known by Greek physician Hippocrates(460-375 B.C). In his Aphorisms is recorded
as “stupidity, or a delirium, occasioned by a wound in the head, is bad”. This is
explained as signs that meninges are violated and inflamed. Tuberculous meningitis was first described by
Edinburgh physician Sir Robert Whytt in a posthumous report that appeared in
1768. During that time, the disease was called as the “dropsy in the brain”. Meningitis outbreak was first recorded in Geneva, Switzerlan, in 1805 by Gaspard Vieusseux (1746-1814) and
Andre Matthey (1778-1842). The first evidence that linked bacterial infection
as a cause of meningitis was written by Austrian bacteriology Anton Vaykselbaum
(1845-1920) who described meningococcal
bacteria in 1887. Aseptic meningitis is a benign syndrome that first described by Wallgren in 1925 caused usually by viruses .
Definition
Meningitis is often a
life-threatening inflammation of the meninges which envelope brain and spinal
cord. Meningitis
is generally caused by infection of viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and
certain organisms. However, some non-infectious causes of meningitis also
exist.
