What is the time line of a meningococcal meningitis infection?

Dead in 24 hours: This is a devastatingly horrific disease. Patients go from initial fever, to very ill, to fulminant sepsis, hypotension, shock and death within 24 to 48 hours. When patients call at night after three days of fever in a small child, we pediatricians actually breath a sigh of relief. "This is not a child with meningitis, we think to ourselves" We are always more concerned about new onset fever

The time from: when someone is exposed to meningococcal meningitis to the time they might develop symptoms (the incubation period) is 1 to 10 days, and usually less than 4 days. There is antibiotic treatment available, which is effective if started soon enough. There is also a vaccine available that is routinely given to children/adolescents at age 11-12 with a booster at age 16.