Loss of appetite
Poor appetite is a very important symptom to take into consideration in very small children and infants. This is sometimes the only give-out sign that something is wrong, and health professionals take it seriously to investigate where does it come from. It is not only reducing the food intake, but rather a constant lethargy, slow motion and inactivity affecting feeding as well. In time, these symptoms become worrying for parents and may even lead to nutrient deficiency, complicating the disease further.
Adults may also experience loss of appetite, especially those having nausea and severe vomiting. In these patients, it is important to maintain proper nutrition and they may need urgent parenteral feeding and therapy to recover from this ailment. Thus, it is common to have meningitis patients hospitalized for a couple of days until their infection is resolved.
If you have seen severe changes in the pattern of feeding in your infant, report this warning sign to your pediatrician regardless of having additional symptoms or not. This is sometimes caused by a severe infection and your physician will need to perform a series of lab tests and a thorough physical exam to figure out the root cause.
