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While 6 cases of meningitis were recently detected in Strasbourg, the ARS Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is also on alert: 8 cases including two fatalities have also been recorded since last fall in Côte-d’Or.
Meningitis is scary, in particular by its overwhelming nature which can affect children, young adults but also fragile people. And the Grand Est region of France remains particularly vigilant. While 6 cases of meningitis (including one fatal) were detected in young people attending the same nightclub in Strasbourg in the fall, this month of January, it is the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regional Health Agency which reports 8 recorded cases.
Two deaths in patients over 85
Requested, the ARS Bourgogne-Franche-Comté indeed announced on January 12 that it identified eight cases of invasive meningococcal infections “reported by physicians and biologists“then the fall. Of these eight contaminations, two resulted in deaths, in patients over the age of 85. The ARS says it is particularly vigilant at the moment, and specifies that “the winter season is more favorable to meningitis, the deterioration of the state of the respiratory mucosa, in particular after influenza, constituting one of the factors of occurrence of the infection“.
On the other hand, unlike the cases discovered in Strasbourg, the research carried out on the 8 reported cases “did not highlight any links“Between the contaminations: no geographical grouping of the “cluster” type, and the meningococcal strain was not the same for the 8 patients.
Meningitis: what are the warning signs to know?
Meningococci are bacteria present in the nose and throat, without necessarily being pathological fortunately. Meningococcal meningitis is transmitted by close contact, via droplets of saliva. It can, however, be lightning-fast, capable of knocking a person down in a matter of days or even hours.
The symptoms that should alert are the following:
- stiffness in the neck;
- Headaches ;
- Fever ;
- Vomitings ;
- Light discomfort;
- Appearance of purpura (red or purplish spots on the skin)
- An unexplained state of shock.
“In the slightest doubt, it is therefore advisable to contact the 15th or your attending physician urgently”, says the Ministry of Health.