• fever and chills
• severe headache
• nausea and vomiting
• stiff neck ("meningismus")
• sensitivity to light (photophobia)
• mental status changes

• decreased consciousness
• rapid breathing
• agitation
• opisthotonos (severe neck stiffness, ultimately resulting in a characteristic arched posture-seen in infants or small children)
• "bulging fontanelles" may be seen in infants
• poor feeding or irritability in children

Meningitis is an important cause of fever in newborn children. For this reason, a lumbar puncture is often done on newborns who have a fever of uncertain origin.

• Lumbar puncture with CSF glucose measurement and CSF cell count.
• Gram-stain and culture of CSF (cerebral spinal fluid).
• Chest X-ray to look for other sites of infection.
• Head CT scan looking for hydrocephalus, abscess or deep swelling.