Brushing your teeth could prevent meningitis - research
Researchers have found a type of oral bacteria that they have linked to meningitis. Photo: Getty Images
BRUSHING your teeth and flossing regularly could help prevent meningitis, a study that identifies a link between a common type of mouth bacteria and the disease suggests.
Researchers in Zurich found the newly-identified bacterium Streptococcus tigurinus in the blood of patients with meningitis.
They also found it in those with spondylodiscitis, or inflammation of the spine, and a type of heart disease called endocarditis.
Dr Andrea Zbinden, who led the study, said the bacterium "seems to have a natural potential to cause severe disease".
It could get into the bloodstream through bleeding gums, she added, although she noted its "specific risk" had yet to be determined. The study is published today (Wednesday) in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Meningitis, the swelling of the tissue around the brain, can be caused by bacteria, viruses or other micro-organisms. It can be fatal.
Over the last few years scientists have found that certain oral bacteria can cause heart attacks and strokes by breaking out into the bloodstream and causing blood clots.
- Stephen Adams
© Telegraph.co.uk
