These viruses target the digestive tract and cause inflammation of the stomach and intestines. The most awful symptoms -- diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps -- are actually your body's defense mechanisms. Your body is trying to drive the virus out. Stomach flu can develop at any time of the year, but it's most common in the fall and winter in the U.S. Although unpleasant, stomach flu is rarely serious. Symptoms usually last for 1 to 3 days and sometimes longer. The greatest risk -- especially in babies and older people -- comes from dehydration. Untreated, dehydration can be dangerous. Despite the name, stomach flu has nothing to do with the true flu, influenza. Influenza causes body ache and fever. It almost never causes diarrhea or vomiting in adults.
The germs that cause bacterial meningitis can be contagious. Some bacteria can spread through the exchange (e.g., by kissing) of respiratory and throat secretions (e.g., saliva or mucus). Fortunately, most of the bacteria that cause meningitis are not as contagious as viruses that cause the common cold or the flu.Also, the bacteria are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been.Other meningitis-causing bacteria are not spread person-to-person, but can cause disease because the person has certain risk factors (such as a weak immune system or head trauma).Unlike other bacterial causes of meningitis, you can get Listeria monocytogenes by eating contaminated food.lso, the bacteria are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been. Other meningitis-causing bacteria are not spread person-to-person, but can cause disease because the person has certain risk factors (such as a weak immune system or head trauma).
Typical signs of meningitis are fever, headache, and a stiff neck. These early symptoms may be mistaken for a cold or flu and ignored. Meningitis develops because of infection that causes inflammation in the meninges or membranes of the spinal cord. Bacteria, viruses, or fungus may cause infection or inflammation.