Site of Infection | Symptoms or Complications |
---|---|
Abdominal cavity | Fatigue, swelling, slight tenderness, and appendicitis-like pain |
Bladder | Painful urination and blood in urine |
Bones (mainly in children) | Swelling and minimal pain |
Tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meninges) | Fever, headache, nausea, drowsiness, confusion, a stiff neck, and, if untreated, coma |
Pericardium (the two-layered membrane around the heart) | Fever, chest pain, enlarged neck veins, shortness of breath |
Joints | Arthritis-like symptoms |
Kidneys | Kidney damage with fever, back pain, and white blood cells (pus) and blood in the urine |
Lymph nodes | Swollen lymph nodes, which may become inflamed and tender and drain pus |
Reproductive organs in men | Lump in the scrotum |
Reproductive organs in women | Chronic pelvic pain and sterility or a mislocated (ectopic) pregnancy |
Spine | Worsening or constant back pain, collapsed vertebrae, and leg paralysis |