The case of the student from Ilfov diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis should be a wake-up call for all parents who still have doubts about vaccinating their children against this disease. Doctors warn that we are talking about a not serious but lethal disease that kills in less than 48 hours. The only way we can protect ourselves is immunization.
Meningococcal meningitis, the most aggressive form of the disease. Source: archive
Meningococcal meningitis, the most serious form of meningitis, is an inflammation of the meninges caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, also known as meningococcus. This bacteria involves five types that actually cause the disease. These are types A, B, C, Y and W for which there are vaccines.
“Meningococcal meningitis can have mild symptoms at first, just like a common cold. But, within just a few hours, the disease gallops, advances terribly, and in two days can lead to death. Many times, doctors don’t have time to save the patient’s life, because by the time the patient reaches the doctor, by the time the tests are done, by the time the disease is discovered, it is often too late.” Dr. Sandra Alexiu, president of the Association of Family Doctors Bucharest-Ilfov, told “Adevărul”.
“Severe symptoms come on suddenly and violently. The patient has a high fever, over 40 degrees Celsius, nausea, vomiting, intense headaches, rashes may appear on the skin. In the end, without correct and quickly administered treatment, the patient can develop septicemia, enter a coma, and from here to losing his life is only one step away.” the doctor also explained. “It is a bau-bau of the diseases we can suffer from, because the evolution is sudden, fast, aggressive and endangers life”, the specialist also specified.
Teenagers, among the most vulnerable people
Meningococcal meningitis is not talked about much, because the number of cases of the disease is low. But the rarer it is, the more lethal it is. “When it strikes, it strikes hard and, more often than not, it kills. And the most exposed are the children. The very young, who have a low immune system, teenagers and people over 65. They are the most vulnerable categories to this disease. Young people, for example, in the collective, at school interact a lot with each other. They tend to borrow each other’s personal things, clothes, certain objects, they smoke from the same cigarette, they drink one after the other, they are at the age where they kiss for the first time. And as the disease is transmitted extremely quickly, the risk of illness in the group is very high. This is why outbreaks of infection can occur at school.”
And when it happens, when a child is found sick in the community, the educational unit is obliged to notify the Directorate of Public Health. “The situation is being analyzed, bthe olnav is detected, and all the other children in the class undergo preventive treatment. They are given a certain dose of antibiotic to make sure they are protected against this bacteria.” the doctor also specified. “It is a situation that must be reported urgently when it is detected in the community.”
The disease is highly contagious and is transmitted through the respiratory tract, from one person to another. “It is transmitted through the air, following close contact with an infected person, through droplets of saliva, from coughing or sneezing. just like any other airborne disease. And there is no particular season when we should be more careful, when we should beware or expect cases of illness to appear. But, most of the time, illnesses occur in the cold season, starting with the first autumn months. It is the period when opiates enter the community, at school, at kindergarten and in this context bacterium flow more easily. Then, in the cold season, we spend more time in closed spaces, in a crowd. Here is a favorable environment for the bacteria to circulate freely”.
Vaccination, the only method to prevent the disease
The only method of protection is vaccination or prophylactic treatment, at the moment we came into contact with a sick person. “Vaccination is optional, it is not part of the mandatory vaccination scheme. Therefore, the serum costs. However, the meningococcal vaccine is fully compensated for people between 6 weeks and 65 years old who suffer from specific conditions, but also for people over 65 years old”.
No matter how we get it, compensated or not, the first step we need to take is to see a doctor for a simple prescription. “Any doctor can prescribe it, but the actual vaccination is done only by the family doctor, the epidemiologist or by persons trained in this regard, who have the right to vaccinate”.
However, Dr. Sandra Alexiu warns that the vaccine, once bought from the pharmacy, must be kept at low temperatures. “When we go to the pharmacy, we should have a cooler bag in which to keep the serum. He will stay cold until we get to the doctor to get vaccinated”. In this context, the doctor specifies that the serum, if it is not kept in optimal conditions, will no longer have its effect, it will lose its efficiency. “It won’t do us any harm, but it won’t do us much good either.”
What vaccines are on the market?
Vaccination can be done from the age of 6 weeks. “There are four types of vaccine on our market. Two of them, Bexsero and Trumenba, are dedicated to type B of the bacteria, and Nimenrix and MenQuadfi are dedicated to types A, C, W and Y. It is recommended to immunize against all types. We can basically buy two vaccines and administer them both on the same day,” recommends doctor Sandra Alexiu. As for the adverse effects of the vaccination, the doctor stated that redness or a diffuse pain may occur at the injection site.
The president of the Association of Family Doctors Bucharest – Ilfov, Sandra Alexiu, announced, on Monday evening, a confirmed case of meningococcal meningitis in a school in Ilfov county. The disease can kill a person in 48 hours, and the vaccine is only available for certain categories of people. For the other categories, however, a dose of vaccine costs as much as “6 packs of cigarettes or a session of semi-permanent nails with breezes”, noted the doctor, emphasizing that prophylaxis saves lives.
