Dear Annette Shako

May  be the source through nasopharynx 

The symptoms related to  antigen antibodies reaction  and chemokines will  stimulate different mechanisms  to  react

Source of infection: Organism found in nasopharynx,

Clinical case present only negligible source of infection

Carriers are most important source of infection

I agree with  you Indranil Saha 

Hi Annette, 

As mentioned in the previous answers, meningococcus are carried in the nasopharynx and can be transmitted between people by close contact (e.g. kissing). In the UK (and elsewhere) carriage rate vary a great deal with age with peak carriage in the late teenage years of around a quarter of young adults (Christensen, 2010, Lancet ID-though this varies by study). The vast majority of carriers don't get meningococcal disease and it's not yet clear why some do and other don't-probably a complex interplay between the host and the pathogen. 

Symptoms vary depending on the site of infection and the age of the patient. Meningococcal meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) classically presents with headache, fever, photophobia and neck stiffness with no rash. Meningococcal septicaemia can be very non-specific with fever, a rash which becomes non-blanching (late and dangerous sign), drowsiness. See https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg102/chapter/1-guidance#bacterial-meningitis-and-meningococcal-septicaemia-in-children-and-young-people-symptoms-signs for more details. 

The purple, or purpuric, rash is a late sign and may start off with a few small, non-blanching spots. It is a sign the the clotting system has become dysregulated due to the serious infection. The fever is actually the body's way of trying to fight the infection and is generated by the body (as mentioned previously) through cytokines.

Hope that helps!

Hello Antoninnettle   

The main source

Is from self nasopharnx aera, f

Ifonces

Yes Haimanot Tassew  I agree with you

I toatlly agree with Indranil that the main source are  nasopharyngeal carriers.

The purple rash occurs when the toxins released by the meningococcal organisms in the blood damage the small blood vessels and blood leaks through under the skin to form the purple rashes.

Cross infection between people in the same community is possible, since part of the normal healthy people they have meningococci as a normal flora.