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Author Topic: DT and meningitis  (Read 492 times)

Offline Turtle Dove

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DT and meningitis
« on: Friday 20 September 19 08:58 BST (UK) »
Hello,
Are there any doctors on here who could help with this query? I have an ancestor in 1861 who died of delirium tremors 30 hours and meningitis 12 hours. Would the DTs have been due to alcohol withdrawal - causing the onset of meningitis? Or could the meningitis have caused tremors which were unrelated to alcohol? Thank you to anyone who can help me understand :-)

Offline mckha489

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Re: DT and meningitis
« Reply #1 on: Sunday 22 September 19 19:54 BST (UK) »
I don’t think Meningitis would be a direct result of the DTs as by it’s definition  meningitis is either bacterial or viral.

I think probably more likely the DTs might mimic a meningitis, but I’ve not heard of it.

I’m only in an allied health field. Need a neurologist to tell us.
Side tracked to a friend’s very interesting Norfolk families. MORGAN, PRATT, HORNOR, SUCKLING, GLEANE etc. And in London DOWNES, du CROZ, MORGAN (same MORGANs as the Norwich lot)

Offline avm228

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Re: DT and meningitis
« Reply #2 on: Sunday 22 September 19 19:57 BST (UK) »
It looks as though there is some learning on delirium tremens triggered by meningitis, but the underlying article isn’t freely available:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14388356
Ayr: Barnes, Wylie
Caithness: MacGregor
Essex: Eldred (Pebmarsh)
Gloucs: Timbrell (Winchcomb)
Hants: Stares (Wickham)
Lincs: Maw, Jackson (Epworth, Belton)
London: Pierce
Suffolk: Markham (Framlingham)
Surrey: Gosling (Richmond)
Wilts: Matthews, Tarrant (Calne, Preshute)
Worcs: Milward (Redditch)
Yorks: Beaumont, Crook, Moore, Styring (Huddersfield); Middleton (Church Fenton); Exley, Gelder (High Hoyland); Barnes, Birchinall (Sheffield); Kenyon, Wood (Cumberworth/Denby Dale)

Offline mckha489

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Re: DT and meningitis
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 22 September 19 20:02 BST (UK) »
Of course, if one is alcoholic, and then develop meningitis and can’t get to your alcohol, DTs will be the result.
I know someone who had a stroke, DTs followed, (he didn’t think he drank that much), but the stroke didn’t of itself cause the DTs
Side tracked to a friend’s very interesting Norfolk families. MORGAN, PRATT, HORNOR, SUCKLING, GLEANE etc. And in London DOWNES, du CROZ, MORGAN (same MORGANs as the Norwich lot)

Offline Turtle Dove

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Re: DT and meningitis
« Reply #4 on: Monday 23 September 19 09:07 BST (UK) »
It is an intriguing cause of death, and the doctor clearly thought alcohol was at the root of it. This man worked in brickfields and lived next door to a pub. He had also lost 3 children to smallpox in the space of a few weeks a few years earlier. But the meningitis seems to have occurred after the DTs. Maybe he did feel ill enough to stop drinking before the disease came out fully. Recording the number of hours he was suffering seems very specific, and adds to the intrigue. Thank you for your responses it is all very helpful.
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