Meningococcal meningitis is spreading across HCM City with 36 out of 51 blood samples tested positive for the disease.
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Children suffering from meningitis |
Children’s Hospital 2 was also treating a 29-month child from Binh Duong Province for the disease. The child’s mother currently works at Binh Duong’s Song Than Industrial Park.
The Centre of Preventive Medicine collected 51 blood samples of patients whose symptoms are similar to those of meningococcal meningitis and found 36 out of the samples proved positive.
The HCM City Department of Health joined hands with the centre to provide prophylactic antibiotics for more than 5,000 workers at Furukawa Company and also instructed 2,800 students at the People’s Police School on measures to prevent the disease.
However, the local health sector has not yet defined the total number of infected people, causing difficulties for disease control measures. Workers at factories and companies will return home for the Tet holiday over the coming days, which is likely to cause a wider spread of the disease to other localities.
Meningococcal meningitis is caused by the bacterium, Neisseria meningitides. The symptoms include fever, stiff neck, body aches and headaches. The disease can cause brain injuries, hearing disabilities and even blood infections.
It, however, can be prevented with the vaccine.
