A form of acute and fulminant meningitis kills a young man in Dijon

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Published the 02.01.2018 at 19: 19

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On Tuesday, the regional Agency of health (ARS), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté has confirmed the death of a young man of 23 years, hit by a fulminant form of meningitis. He died in the night following his hospitalization last Friday.
Preventive antibiotic treatment has been offered to his relatives, prior to any vaccination, once the serogroup was known, says the ARS, confirming information of France 3.

A year after a vaccination campaign

This young man was not a student but his infection by the meningococcus occurs a year after 3 cases of meningococcal meningitis (serotype W), including 2 fatal, occurred in students previous.
As the 3 students did not know each other, it had been made of the possibility of contamination from a healthy carrier, which had triggered a massive campaign of vaccination on the university campus in Dijon (14 000 students). The vaccine, used in a single dose, protects against four strains of meningococcal disease (serotypes A, C, Y and W).

Meningococcal meningitis

In the adult, meningitis is most often by a combination of signs that the so-called “meningeal syndrome” with violent headache (” headache “), stiff neck, high fever, intolerance to light (” photophobia “), and nausea or vomiting.
May also appear drowsiness, mental confusion, or disturbances of consciousness, and neurological signs localized (paralysis of the eye) and seizures.

A fulminant form

The form that has led to the death is probably a fulminant form of meningitis acute meningococcal. Some meningitis, meningococcal can result very quickly with signs of generalized infection (” meningococcemia acute “) with sepsis. This is the case when there is a “purpura fulminans” of the most severe and of very rapid evolution, with lesions bleeding of the skin.
In the event of an outbreak anywhere on the skin of haemorrhagic spots (stains stellate bright red), or blue (or ” bruising “), not disappearing on pressure of the finger, it may be a purpura, who must call the emergency services in extreme emergency.

A contamination in the community

The meningococcus is a germ is very fragile and does not survive in the environment, but is transmitted by saliva.
Most of meningitis are acquired in the conditions of life in common, without a link with a hospital stay or a medical procedure.
The fact that we live in a community that is closed, and especially the fact of being in contact with a person infected with meningitis, are factors favoring the occurrence of the disease.