Report: 2-year-old dies of meningococcemia in Cebu

A two-year-old child succumbed to meningococcemia in Cebu province earlier this month, a radio report said Friday. Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN) quoted Department of Health Central Visayas regional director Susana Madarietta as saying the child died last November 7. Madarietta said they confirmed the cause of death after examining results of laboratory examinations on the child, who the report described as being from Dumanhug area. But she said there was no cause for alarm in the child's neighborhood as local health officials already administered the needed medication to the child's relatives and neighbors, the report said. The US National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine defines meningococcemia as an acute and potentially life-threatening infection of the bloodstream. It said meningococcemia is caused by a bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis, which frequently lives in a person's upper respiratory tract without causing visible signs of illness. The bacteria can be spread from person to person through respiratory droplets such as sneezing or coughing. Symptoms of the disease include:

• Anxiety
• Fever
• Headache
• Irritability
• Muscle pain
• Nausea
• Rash with red or purple spots (petechiae)
• Changing level of consciousness
• Large areas of bleeding under the skin (purpura)
• Shock