My Meningitis

Good day Dr,
I enjoy reading your column in The Sun news paper. My name is Pat, from Abuja. Please I would like to have your advice on the following questions. I was admitted for two weeks for a sickness called meningitis in October and up till now I still feel dizzy, please, what kind of drugs can I use to clear this dizziness?

Secondly, my dad had a stroke which affected his right hand/leg and trout, what can you recommend for an effective treatment? Please your soonest response to this e-mail will be appreciated.

Pat from Abuja

Dear Pat,

Meningitis? First, thank God you are not dead and buried. Meningitis Highly Malignant; Mengistu Haile Mariam!! When we were in medical school, some of us reminded ourselves of the deadly nature of the disease called meningitis by recalling and associating with meningitis the name Mengistu Haile Mariam –the name of that terrible Marxist maximum ruler of Ethiopia who in our days in the late 70’s and early 80’s terrorized and tyrannized his native Ethiopia after the ouster of Emperor Haile Selassie II. He eventually made away to Zimbabwe on exile when nemesis caught up with him. The maximum ruler's deadly ruthlessness, his very name and initials MHM were too much like the disease we dubbed "meningitis highly malignant" whose main bacterial germ causes are 1.Neiserria meningitides;2.Haemophilus Influenza type B 3.Streptococus pneumoniae 4.Staphylococcus aureus 5.E.coli 6.Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria. Because the disease is so deadly, even after you are discharged from hospital, one can suffer complications including Death or permanent brain damage including paralysis, hearing loss, speech difficulty and intellectual impairment if not treated quickly. I should think your complaints are simply a small remnant of the disease --a complication that you may have to learn to live with. See a neurologist --also for your daddy's stroke because stroke is not a simple but deadly thing needing very expert handling.

Cheers