Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, which are membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by infections caused by viruses, bacteria or other microorganisms. Due to inflammation located near the brain and spinal cord, meningitis can be life-threatening and is classified as a medical emergency. The first recorded major epidemic of meningitis occurred in 1805, although many scientists suggest that Hippocrates was the first to discover the existence of meningitis and there is evidence to suggest that the disease was also studied by the doctors before the Renaissance. Sir Rober Whytt is credited with describing tuberculous meningitis in a 1768 report. Meningitis epidemics were later described in Europe, America and Africa around 1840. The epidemic became very common in Africa, beginning with a major outbreak in Nigeria and Ghana in 1905. Today, sub-Saharan Africa is known as the meningitis belt as it has been heavily affected by large outbreaks of the disease throughout the century. Bacterial meningitis occurs when...