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Source: http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?s...1015578C196522
Meningitis alert for KZN schools
Latoya Newman
August 27 2009 at 09:54AM
Health authorities have urged parents and school officials to keep monitoring children for meningitis. Nineteen cases have been reported in the province this year, nine of them school pupils.
KZN health spokesman Chris Maxon said two children had died, one from the eThekwini and the other from the uThungulu municipal districts.
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid that cushions the spinal cord and the brain. There are two types, viral and bacterial.
According to information on Netcare, the viral type is generally not severe and will clear up with treatment of the symptoms.
However, the second type, bacterial meningitis, can result in loss of hearing, brain damage or even death.
Dr Pete Vincent, of Netcare Travel Clinics, said the noticeable factor about bacterial meningitis was how quickly it developed.
"Symptoms appear and get worse within hours, or at most one to two days," he said.
The symptoms include a severe headache, joint and muscle pain, vomiting, irritability, especially in young children; sensitivity to light, a stiff neck, a fever; a rash of red/purple blotches that do not go white under pressure, and seizures.
Small children may not get the fever, headache and neck stiffness. Babies may instead be irritable and fussy, lethargic and not feeding.
Vincent said parents should not hesitate to take a child to a doctor or hospital and demand immediate treatment if they suspected meningitis.
"The quicker the action, the better the outcome," he said.
Meningitis alert for KZN schools
Latoya Newman
August 27 2009 at 09:54AM
Health authorities have urged parents and school officials to keep monitoring children for meningitis. Nineteen cases have been reported in the province this year, nine of them school pupils.
KZN health spokesman Chris Maxon said two children had died, one from the eThekwini and the other from the uThungulu municipal districts.
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid that cushions the spinal cord and the brain. There are two types, viral and bacterial.
According to information on Netcare, the viral type is generally not severe and will clear up with treatment of the symptoms.
However, the second type, bacterial meningitis, can result in loss of hearing, brain damage or even death.
Dr Pete Vincent, of Netcare Travel Clinics, said the noticeable factor about bacterial meningitis was how quickly it developed.
"Symptoms appear and get worse within hours, or at most one to two days," he said.
The symptoms include a severe headache, joint and muscle pain, vomiting, irritability, especially in young children; sensitivity to light, a stiff neck, a fever; a rash of red/purple blotches that do not go white under pressure, and seizures.
Small children may not get the fever, headache and neck stiffness. Babies may instead be irritable and fussy, lethargic and not feeding.
Vincent said parents should not hesitate to take a child to a doctor or hospital and demand immediate treatment if they suspected meningitis.
"The quicker the action, the better the outcome," he said.