Meningitis alert calls "down to a trickle"

CALLS to the Eastern Health Board, and the Superquinn supermarket on Sundrive Road, Dublin, were "down to a trickle" yesterday, following Monday's alert to parents whose children had used the supermarket playhouse on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.

A two year old child who had been in the playhouse on April 24th and 25th, has since developed meningitis.

Up to 350 calls were received by the health board on Tuesday, when it said it wanted the parents of up to 100 children who had used the playhouse on the relevant days, to contact them, "as a precautionary measure".

They wanted to alert parents to the symptoms associated with the disease in the event that any, other child in the group might have meningitis, said Dr Darina Flanagan, a specialist in communicable diseases with the EHB.

She said that the disease, meningococcal meningitis, was not very infectious. For transmission to occur it required up to four hours contact with a carrier, whereas children at the playhouse were there for only an average 45 minutes to an hour.

Symptoms in children include loss of appetite, irritability, a high pitched cry, vomiting, drowsiness, and unresponsiveness. In adults the symptoms are flu like initially, and can include headaches, vomiting, fever, aches, pains and a sore throat.

As it progresses the infected person develops a sensitivity to light, neck stiffness, confusion or delirium, drowsiness, unresponsiveness and coma.

The EHB is to review the situation today.