Meningitis. Of all the common causes of hearing loss, this one is the most frightening, the most deadly. Time and again, I have read articles about families whose child became deathly ill with meningitis, pulled through, and then they found out that the child was deaf.
Statistics
How common is meningitis as a cause of hearing loss? One source of data is the Gallaudet Research Institute's Regional and National Summary of Report Data from the Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth. Nationally, the percentage with meningitis as the cause of loss was 5.9% according to the 1999-2000 survey, making it the leading post-natal cause of hearing loss. Studies have also found a possible link between light eye color and deafness resulting from meningitis.
Symptoms
The symptoms of meningitis include:
- Rapid, high fever
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Spots on the body
- Painful joints
- Extreme weakness
- Glazed, faraway eyes
It acts so quickly and can kill so quickly and is such a terrible, hair-raising experience that survival and deafness is a good outcome.
After Meningitis
Support groups have grown to support people who have experienced meningitis:
- The Meningitis Foundation of America, whose web site offers facts on meningitis, personal stories of victims who have survived (and some who have not; the parents who wrote these stories give advice to other parents to prevent their child dying of meningitis), and an online newsletter.
- The Meningitis Research Foundation, based in the United Kingdom, which cites deafness as one of the most serious effects of meningitis.
Discussion lists are also available for deafened victims of meningitis. The Meningitis Foundation of America runs one discussion list, and another, smaller list that focuses on people who are deaf from meningitis is the Meni Circle list hosted by Topica.
Treatment of Meningitis-Caused Hearing Loss
Many people, particularly children, who have been deafened by meningitis can be helped by cochlear implants or hearing aids. Unfortunately neither implants nor hearing aids were around to help one of the best-known victims of meningitis, the blind and deaf Helen Keller, who lost her vision and hearing to meningitis at the age of one and a half. In the deaf community, some of the best-known people who have been deafened by meningitis include Gerilee Gustason, Executive Director of the SEE (Signing Exact English) Center for Deaf Children; Clifford Rowley, father of Amy Rowley, who was the child in the famous court case; and the actor C.J. Jones.
