UK: Health warning as hospitals report huge increase in meningitis cases over winter

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Health warning as hospitals report huge increase in meningitis cases over

winter

By Hope

Last updated at 2:18 AM on 24th January 2009

Cases of meningitis B have risen by a quarter so far this winter, according

to official figures.

Experts say the rise could be linked to the high number of flu cases that

peaked around Christmas, and urged people to be alert to the symptoms and

act on them promptly.

There is currently no vaccine against the meningitis B strain and it has a

high fatality rate.

The figures, by the Health Protection Agency, show a rise in cases during

December and January, with 252 confirmed cases of Group B meningococcal

infection (MenB), compared to 191 cases in the same period last year and 142

in 2007.

A similar peak in cases of meningitis and septicaemia followed an outbreak

of flu in 1989-1990. The annual number of cases for 2008 remains similar to

previous years.

The provisional total last year was 1,070 compared with 1,076 during 2007

and 1,011 in 2006.

Head, chief executive of charity Meningitis Research Foundation,

said: 'The latest figures remind us that meningitis and septicaemia are a

significant threat.

'These deadly diseases can kill in hours. The most important thing to

protect your family against MenB is to know the symptoms and act quickly.'

During the flu outbreak of 1989/90, sufferers who caught meningitis were

four times more likely to have had flu than those of the same age who did

not get meningitis.

Meningococcus B lives harmlessly at the back of the noses and throats of one

in ten Britons. Sometimes, however, it changes into a microbe which can kill

a previously healthy person within hours.

Milder cases respond to rapid antibiotic treatment but the most serious

develop into meningococcal septicaemia - where bacteria contaminate the

blood. It kills more than one in ten victims while around 15 per cent of

survivors are left disabled, suffering long-term effects including brain

damage, deafness and amputations.

Dr Ramsay, an immunisation expert at the Health Protection Agency,

said: 'These diseases can also develop very quickly.

'It is important to stay vigilant and be able to recognise the symptoms quickly

and seek urgent medical help if there is any concern at all.'