The telephone today is a ubiquitous or even obsolete tool of communication and information exchange. When it appeared in the nineteenth century, however, the new tool provided a radical way for individuals to talk to each other, person to person, in real time.
How contagious is meningitis? In short, most bacterial meningitis infections are mildly to moderately contagious person to person, while some viral meningitis are contagious but other types are not. Fungal, parasitic, and noninfectious causes of meningitis are not contagious from one person directly to another.
Viral meningitis, also known as aseptic meningitis, is the most common type of meningitis and is caused by an infection of one of several different types of viruses. Viral meningitis is serious but rarely fatal. Symptoms usually last no more than about 10 days, and then the person recovers fully, even without treatment.