Meningococcal cases reach 6-year high in Hawke’s Bay

Pictured is Hawke's Bay Hospital where local cases are often treated. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke’s Bay has recorded a six-year high for the number of confirmed meningococcal cases.

Meningococcal is a rare disease which can develop rapidly and cause death or permanent disabilities.

There have been five confirmed cases this year in the region to date.

There were three confirmed cases in 2022, zero in 2021, one in 2020, two in 2019, zero in 2018, and five in 2017.

Health officials are keeping a close eye on the figures but say they are not alarmed by the relatively small increase.

Napier woman Evie Dent, 20, was one of this year’s cases and was rushed to hospital in August suffering from meningococcal which led to bacterial meningitis.

Fortunately, she is making a good recovery, and her mum has encouraged people to “trust your gut” if ever in doubt and to seek medical help, and for young adults to get the vaccine even if immunised as a child.

Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection which can cause two serious illnesses - meningitis (an infection of the membranes that cover the brain) and septicaemia (blood poisoning).

The disease is spread in similar ways to the common cold – by coughing and sneezing or by contact with saliva. People can carry the bacteria without getting sick.

Meningococcal can affect anyone but is more common in children under the age of 5, teenagers, and young adults.

Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay did not confirm the age brackets for the five cases in 2023.

Evie Dent (middle) with her family and boyfriend, after surviving meningococcal which caused bacterial meningitis. Photo / Paul Taylor

Evie Dent’s mother Angie Dent said her advice was for people to seek medical help quickly if in doubt.

“It happened really quick - it was sort of like a vomiting bug and I had a mum feeling when I went to pick her up from her boyfriend’s [house] that she might need to get checked out.”

Dent took her ill daughter straight to City Medical Napier, where she seemed relatively okay during initial checks before declining rapidly.

“All of a sudden her eyes rolled back in her head and she was babbling.”

She was rushed to hospital and “didn’t wake up for 13 hours”. Doctors and hospital staff did an excellent job to treat her, and she is now making a good recovery.

Meningococcal symptoms can be hard to spot at first and can be mistaken for a tummy bug or the flu.

“[One sign was] her neck was really sore, and the doctors were asking us to put her chin to her chest, and she couldn’t do that. So that is a good sign to look out for.”

National Public Health Service medical officer of health Dr Bridget Wilson said it was “not unexpected that numbers from year to year will vary”.

“We have not yet had a definite rise in case numbers [for Hawke’s Bay] above what you could expect from year-to-year variation, although we are continuing to monitor this data carefully.”

Newborns are offered the meningococcal vaccine as part of their immunisations.

A free vaccine is also available to those aged between 13 and 25, and particularly encouraged for those entering the likes of a boarding school or a university hostel.