Partying hard could lead to harmful effects beyond a hangover, researchers suggest. Investigators found that three healthy adults who developed meningitis, an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, may have contracted it during a bout of binge drinking and smoking.

Meningitis is usually caused by meningococcal bacteria, often a species known as Neisseria meningitidis. The incidence of invasive meningococcal disease -- previously uncommon in younger people -- rose among adolescents and young adults in the 1990s. The findings indicate that binge drinking and smoking, which have recently been shown to be meningitis risk factors, could be behind this increase.

The three men, aged 18 to 21, contracted the infection in May 1999. Public health investigators found that all of the men had attended the same party, and that they were infected with an identical strain of N. meningitidis, which strongly suggests -- but does not confirm -- that they contracted the infection at the party.

Two of the patients recovered with the aid of antibiotics and one died, the report indicates.

Upper respiratory tract infection and crowding have long been known to be risk factors for meningitis. More recently, other factors have also been linked to the disease, including spending time in bars, binge drinking and smoking -- passive smoking as well as active smoking.

The increased risk of invasive meningococcal disease associated with bar patronage is thought to be due to a combination of factors that could facilitate transmission, including crowding, poor ventilation, active and passive smoking, smoking-associated coughing, and the sharing of drinking glasses and cigarettes.

Taken together, these findings suggest that some of the recent increase in invasive meningococcal disease may be due to modifiable risk factors.

A currently available vaccine could probably have prevented the young men's infection, the researchers note, as well as most other cases of meningococcal infection in this age group.

Southern Medical Journal 2001;94:1192-1194

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It is nice to see that the medical literature is now documenting that it is lifestyle, NOT some big bad meningitis bacteria, that causes most people to get sick. Of course, public health authorities tend to dismiss this and suggest we subject the masses to vaccines. Meningitis vaccine is now recommended for most college students. This recommendation occurs in spite of the fact that this vaccine is notoriously ineffective and fraught with complications. I have taken care of many college students who are living on campus and I have great difficulty recalling anyone who did not offer loud and vigorous complaints about the quality of the food served in their dorms. I cringe when I have a chronically sick high school student who is graduating and going away to live in the college dorm. It is almost physically impossible to eat well in that environment. Most dorm food is very low quality and full of dangerous grain carbohydrates and sugars. This is important to recognize in light of studies that were done 50 years ago in which researchers attempted to give rabbits polio. It was impossible for the rabbits to get polio until the researchers gave them sugar. Related Articles: Sugar Increases Polio Risk