THE South Eastern Health Board has confirmed five cases of meningitis in the Waterford region within the last 12 days. The victims include two six month old babies, two youths and an adult. The health board has said that the grouping of cases is coincidental.
In Dublin, a student in her 20s has died from the disease. She was studying physiotherapy in Trinity College and became ill last Friday week. She died on Wednesday at St Vincent's Hospital. She had been in a coma.
According, to Dr David Thomas, director of Trinity Health Service, it was an isolated case and there is no cause for alarm.
Dr Thomas said the incubation period for meningitis was quite short and there had been no other case in the college since.
The student's class had been called together. Anyone with concerns about the illness spoke to doctors and treatment was administered where appropriate. Dr Thomas said he wanted to express his sympathy on behalf of the college and staff to the student's family.
Last year in the Waterford area there were 11 cases of meningitis in total and 36 in the health board region. "To date, there have been seven recorded cases of meningitis in the southeast region in 1997," said Dr Martin O'Boyle, public health specialist with the South Eastern Health Board. "The grouping of five of these cases in Waterford is, I think, purely chance. They are unconnected cases.
Dr O'Boyle said that 10-20 per cent of the population could be carrying the organism at this time of year but the actual incidence of meningitis was rare. "It is certainly a serious disease and, it can occasionally be fatal but it is in fact exceedingly rare at this time of year," he said.
According to the Eastern Health Board, 12 cases of the disease have so far been notified to the board in 1997 and three patients have died from the disease since the start of the year. Meningitis, or meningococcal disease to given it its proper title, commonly presents itself in two ways and can be transmitted by coughing, sneezing or intimate kissing.
It is not highly infectious and is not easily transmitted, although in a small percentage of cases it can enter the bloodstream and lead to septicaemia, or blood poisoning.
The most common type of meningococcal diseases initially resemble the common, flu, with symptoms such as vomiting, fever sore throat and aches and pains. Meningococcal meningitis, however, progresses to more serious symptons, including sensitivity to bright light, neck stiffness, drowsiness or coma.
The most important sign to be aware of is the development of a rash, which starts with one or two tiny pink spots which turn into tiny bruises. Parents with small children should be particularly alert for these signs, in addition to high temperature, vomiting or difficulties in waking the child, and should contact their family doctor immediately should they occur.
Dr O'Boyle also advised parents to ensure that their children received primary immunisation, which protected them against one form of meningitis. "If you can at least eliminate one form, it's a very good thing," he said.