The mortality rate of childhood killer "cerebrospinal meningitis" reaches 40%? Doctors reveal: Take "1 action" as soon as possible to reduce the risk of infection
In order to understand the impact of COVID-19 on global vaccination rates, the International Market Research Organization conducted a survey on vaccination attitudes of nearly 5,000 people in eight countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The survey results pointed out that as many as 81% of parents attach great importance to the importance of administering the “meningococcal meningitis vaccine”. Compared with only 56% of the new coronavirus vaccine, the former attaches much higher importance to the latter 25 %.
What is meningococcal meningitis? It directly progresses to “sepsis” with a fatality rate of more than 40%
Professor Huang Yucheng, chairman of the Taiwan Pediatric Infectious Diseases Medical Association and professor-level attending physician at the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and Professor Li Bingying, attending physician at the Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital, National Taiwan University Hospital, pointed out that many advanced countries have included vaccines of various serotypes in the routine routine of infants and young children. Vaccination is recommended, but Taiwanese people still need to pay more attention to meningococcal prevention.
According to global statistics, the asymptomatic carriage rate is about 5-10%. According to a 2001 survey by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nasopharyngeal carriage rate of Neisseria meningitidis among men aged 20-24 was 2.3%; through direct contact with the throat of an infected person and nasal secretions or droplets may cause infection. Once the disease occurs, it may cause serious health impact in just 24 hours. If there are no symptoms of cerebrospinal meningitis and it directly progresses to “epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis sepsis”, the mortality rate can be as high as 40%, and there are 20% survivors. % must suffer the related sequelae.
Although meningococcal meningococcal meningitis has a huge impact on the health of infants and young children, the local incidence rate is less than that in European and American countries. The importance of prevention is easily ignored by parents, and some parents have even never heard of this disease. Parents are reminded that there have been confirmed cases of local epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis every year in Taiwan for the past 20 years. It can be seen that epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis has never disappeared and continues to threaten the health of infants and young children.
About one third of the cases are younger than 4 years old! Cerebrospinal meningitis can be asymptomatic for months
Professor Li Bingying explained that epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis originates from a kind of aerobic Gram-negative diplococcus, which can be classified according to the bacterial structure. Among them, the serotypes that are more likely to cause disease are A, B, C, W, X and Y, type B is the majority in Taiwan, with about 81% belonging to this type; and about 5-20% of cases directly progress to meningococcal septicemia without symptoms of meningococcal meningitis. , which will have an impact on intellectual development and general health.
Professor Li Bingying said that the main transmission route of meningococcal meningococcal meningitis is droplet infection, so groups who need to stay in the same living space or classroom for a long time can easily infect each other with this bacteria. However, most people infected with N. meningitidis will not develop clinical symptoms. According to global statistics, about 5-10% of healthy asymptomatic carriers; and according to a 2001 survey by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nasopharyngeal carriage rate of Neisseria meningitidis among men aged 20-24 was 2.3%. Asymptomatic carriers may last for several months. It is not difficult to imagine that the number of cases of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis may be far underestimated.
Professor Li Bingying further explained that epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis mainly occurs in infants and young children, with about one-third of the cases occurring in infants younger than 4 years old, especially those younger than 1 year old. Among the confirmed cases in Taiwan from 2005 to 2019, about 30% The case is an infant under 4 years old. Speaking of the causes of infant infection, Professor Li Bingying pointed out that although infants may not go out often, parents may be infected and become asymptomatic carriers when they are in the workplace or brothers and sisters are in a group environment on campus, and they may become asymptomatic carriers after returning home. Bacteria are transmitted to newborns.
The golden rescue period for cerebrospinal meningitis is less than 2 days! Doctors reveal: Death can occur even with proper treatment
Chairman Huang Yucheng reminded that within 8 hours after the onset of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, the patient’s symptoms are extremely insignificant and similar to cold symptoms, such as fever, vomiting, restlessness, poor mobility, etc.; it is not until the 9th to 15th hour that the patient’s symptoms are very obvious. Relatively typical symptoms such as stiffness in the back of the neck and loss of balance may occur, but are still easily underestimated and do not always occur. If you do not seek immediate medical attention, organ failure or even death may occur within 16-24 hours. Overall, the golden rescue time is only a short 24-48 hours, and even with appropriate treatment, the mortality rate is still 10-15%.
Chairman Huang Yucheng further explained that because epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis is caused by bacterial infection, antibiotics are the mainstay of clinical treatment, but there is still room for improvement in treatment effectiveness. Patients also need to be admitted to the intensive care unit for observation, and a few cases even require thorough examination. Maintain body functions through kidney dialysis. Even if treatment is started immediately, the mortality rate is still as high as 10% to 15%, that is, 1 in 7 patients is at risk of death.
In addition, because cerebrospinal meningitis will invade the brain and blood and quickly impact its functions, even if it is properly treated and cured, it may cause cerebral palsy, hearing loss, intellectual impairment, etc. due to severe central nervous system infection. Neurological sequelae such as epilepsy may even require amputation due to a sudden decrease in blood function; this will undoubtedly bring serious obstacles to the patient’s future life planning and self-practice.
Chairman Huang Yucheng appealed that in view of the greater risk of infants and young children being infected with cerebrospinal meningitis, in order to protect the health of children and reduce the threat of cerebrospinal meningitis during their life journey, prevention is better than cure. In addition to washing hands frequently, wearing masks, and reducing access to crowded places, vaccination is also one of the prevention methods. It is recommended that parents consult professional medical personnel and follow the recommendations to choose appropriate preventive vaccines and take preventive measures as early as possible so that their babies can continue to write a happy life chapter.
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