Rise in meningococcal disease spurs warning

By CATHY ARONSON

HAMILTON - Health professionals are warning parents to keep tabs on sick children after the death from meningococcal disease of a fourth child in the Waikato in three months.

The latest victim was a preschool child, who died this month. Details of the death have not been revealed.

In the past three months, two other preschool children, from the Waikato and Matamata-Piako, and a 15-year-old from Te Awamutu, have died from the disease.

Five children have died in the region this year, compared with two in the previous five years.

Health Waikato medical officer of health Dr Dell Hood said the death rate had caused considerable concern and it was vital that parents keep an eye on their sick children.

Dr Hood said meningococcal disease was hard to pick up early because it produced common viral symptoms, including fever, vomiting, headache, stiff neck, irritability and difficulty in rousing.

Because it is so difficult to detect in its early stages, GPs are telling parents to bring their children back if they get worse.

She said deteriorating health and a worsening fever were the main warning signs. A rash can also occur.

The symptoms could also differ depending on where the virus is located. The most well-known forms of the disease are meningococcal meningitis, which affects the membrane around the brain and spinal cord, and meningococcal septicaemia, which attacks the blood.

Dr Hood said it was vital to monitor children during the night, because once the more serious signs were detected, death could occur within hours.

Parents have to trust their own judgment and act quickly.

She said there was no obvious explanation for the increase in cases.

None of the cases had been connected, even by area, and all the victims had been healthy.

Dr Hood said it was more common in children because they had not built up a natural immunity to the disease, which can be found in the throat or nose of 10 to 30 per cent of adults without causing harm.

There have been 36 reported cases of meningococcal disease in the region so far this year, compared with 34 last year.