An inflammation in the meninges is termed as meningitis. The spinal cord and brain are covered by the three membranes of meninges. The fluid covering the meninges gets infected and that condition is called as meningitis. A person with meningitis will have a stiff neck, headache, and fever due to the swelling. These are some of the early symptoms of meningitis. There are different types of meningitis and each one of them is caused due to different infections.

Causes of meningitis
The most common form of meningitis is viral meningitis. This is followed by bacterial meningitis. Fungal meningitis is a very rare infection.

• Viral meningitis: Viral Meningitis is very mild and it does not have major symptoms. The symptoms go away on their own in a few days. However, there might be extreme cases when herpes virus, mumps, HIV and West Nile virus cause this problem. This form of meningitis is not generally contagious. For example, viral meningitis caused by mosquitoes is not contagious.
• Bacterial meningitis: When the bacteria enters the bloodstream and travels to the spinal cord and brain, this results in bacterial meningitis. Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenza, Neisseria meningitides, and Listeria monocytogenes are the common causes of bacterial meningitis. Skull injuries, ear infection, post-surgery infections, and sinus can also cause this kind of meningitis.
• Fungal meningitis: Fungus is a very rare cause of meningitis. It is something similar to bacterial meningitis and it is definitely not contagious and does not spread from person to person. Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the common forms of fungal meningitis. It is caused when the immune system becomes weak due to disease such as AIDS. One needs to take antifungal medicine or else it can get life-threatening.
• Chronic meningitis: Fungi is a slow-growing organism and can affect the fluids that surround the meninges of the spinal cord and brain. This is called chronic meningitis. It develops in a span of two weeks or more.

Is meningitis contagious?
Usually, bacterial and viral meningitis is contagious and the other types of meningitis do not spread from person to person. But it is always good to take a little extra care when around a person with meningitis.