coma<\/a>. While this condition is rare in patients suffering from the effects of the disease, it typically occurs when the inflammation of brain tissue reaches an unsustainable level for the brain to cope with the elevation in intracranial pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\nA patient in the advanced stages of meningitis infection may progress from delirium into the early stages of a coma, where they pass out after delirious episodes. This stage of the disease is severe, and affected individuals must seek immediate medical treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If left undiagnosed and untreated, the brain experiences a lack of oxygen to vital tissues, resulting in permanent brain damage. A coma typically lasts for a few days up to a few weeks. However, patients that have an extended coma period lasting more than a month may end up waking up in a permanent vegetative state, from which there is no recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n
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