India: Meningitis claims 38 lives in Meghalaya

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Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...38_lives_in_Meghalaya/articleshow/2954690.cms

Meningitis claims 38 lives in Meghalaya
16 Apr 2008, 0138 hrs IST,Kounteya Sinha,TNN

NEW DELHI: Meghalaya is facing an unprecedented outbreak of meningitis or the deadly brain fever. Since February, 214 suspected cases of meningitis have been reported while 38 people have died of it. The East Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills have been worst affected by this sudden outbreak.

Alarmed, the health ministry has rushed a team of experts from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) headed by the institute's head of microbiology division Dr Sunil Gupta to the state.

The team has carried 500 anti-meningitis vaccines and 35,000 doses of ciprofloxacin ? an antibiotic that works by killing sensitive bacteria. The ministry is now sending an additional 5,000 vaccines and is procuring 5,000 bottles of Rifampin syrup for children.

Speaking to TOI from Shillong, the state's director of health services K H Lakiang said people who came in close contact with a meningococcal meningitis patient were at an increased risk of developing the disease.

"We have never had a case of meningococcal meningitis and suddenly we have an outbreak on our hands. Because close contacts are vulnerable to getting infected, we will vaccinate health workers carrying out surveillance and not conduct mass vaccination. Labs have been set up at Pasteur Institute in Shillong to test for meningococcal meningitis," Dr Lakiang said.

Meningococcal meningitis mostly affects children and kills rapidly in about 10% of cases. It is rare, affecting one in every 100,000 people.

A health ministry official said, "People can carry this bacteria and not infect people. However, in this case, carriers increased tremendously causing this major outbreak. A technical committee under NICD director Dr Shiv Lal has advised against mass vaccination because the attack rates were not concentrated in a certain area."

 

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Re: India: Meningitis claims 38 lives in Meghalaya

Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14653024

Meningitis crisis grips Meghalaya
Monday, 21 April , 2008, 10:30

Shillong:A burst of a deadly strain of meningitis has swept the hills of Meghalaya, infecting hundreds, and officials say they are ?keeping their fingers crossed? because the situation has reached a critical point with efforts on to check its advance.

Twenty-nine deaths, either of confirmed or suspected cases of meningitis, have been reported from the East Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills, Ri Bhoi, East Garo Hills and West Garo Hills districts, says a top health official. A total of 239 cases have been reported from five of the state's seven districts.

The disease is transmitted by oral transmission or merely inhaling the breath of an infected person.

However, the total number of casualties, including those infected, could be much higher - many cases were unreported because people were unaware of the disease, say health staff in the districts.

A central medical team from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases visited the affected districts, took samples and has reported to the Health Ministry in Delhi.

The State Government, although in full operational mode now to battle the crisis, says that a number of factors slowed initial action. This included the slowing of government machinery as a result of campaigning and voting for last month's legislative elections and subsequent intensive government formation efforts.

The latter saw the administration virtually grind to a halt. There was much tension as Congress' desperate efforts to install its government failed in the wake of an anti-Congress verdict, which brought in a regional coalition mentored by Purno Sangma, the Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Lok Sabha speaker.

?We broke the story and the Director of Health Services was on the defensive and claimed that it was malaria and not meningococcemia,? said Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, the state's largest English-language newspaper.

The infection has symptoms like sore throat, high fever and even bleeding from organs that can lead to a rapid and painful death. It is often described as brain fever with flu-like symptoms. Meningococcemia is also characterised by skin rashes that can result in skin haemorrhages. Diagnosis is possible by examining the cerebro-spinal fluid, blood culture and samples from skin lesions.

Barely 500 doses of the preventive vaccine for health workers and medical staff have been distributed, reaching only a fraction of those who are at most risk since they come into daily contact with meningitis victims. The state government says more kits are being dispatched and that there are now enough stocks of medicines to treat the disease.

Surveillance reports from districts are received every day from the state headquarters in Shillong and officials say that the next days will be crucial.

Doctors are taking elementary precautions on their own while treating patients, such as wearing masks and stopping home clinics.

Health officials say the current Director of Health Services had cautioned government doctors against speaking out about the disease because he did not want to cause ?panic.?

 

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Re: India: Meningitis claims 38 lives in Meghalaya

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080506/jsp/northeast/story_9231620.jsp

Assembly concern on meningitis
OUR CORRESPONDENT

Shillong, May 5: Meningococcal meningitis, which claimed 37 lives and affected 226 people in Meghalaya since January, came up for discussion in the Assembly today.

Replying to a question by P.W. Khongjee of the Congress, health minister Adviser Pariong told the Assembly that the disease was detected mainly in the East Khasi Hills and the Jaintia Hills. ?There were also reports of a few cases from the East Garo Hills, Ri Bhoi district and the West Khasi Hills,? he said.

Pariong said the government was taking effective steps to contain the disease in the state, as many had lost their lives and several others were affected. He said the symptoms of the disease were high fever, constant cough and stiff neck.

According to Pariong, after the first cases were reported in January, the health department had taken necessary steps to collect the data of the affected persons both from the government and private hospitals. The district medical and health officers and the district surveillance officers of the seven districts of the state were alerted to be vigilant to contain the disease.

On the major initiative of the state government to contain the disease, Pariong said the rapid response team of the East Khasi Hills and the Jaintia Hills had been sent to the affected areas for necessary investigation.

Pariong said a four-member team of health officials from Delhi also visited Meghalaya in April and met chief secretary Ranjan Chatterjee and state health authorities in this regard. The central health team also visited the affected areas of Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills to study the situation that led to the outbreak of the disease.

The central team issued guidelines to the state health officials to effectively contain the disease, Pariong added.