The guardians at a preschool in Ersmark were informed on Tuesday that a case of meningococcal disease has been linked to the preschool.
– This is a bacteria that many people carry in their throats without getting sick. But it can also cause serious infections such as meningitis or blood poisoning, then it becomes serious, says Maria Marklund, infectious disease doctor.
– If you get a serious infection, you need hospital care, then it’s urgent. If treated in hospital, you are treated with antibiotics directly in the blood.
In the dispatch, the region’s infection control says that children who stayed in the affected wards after November 4 are offered a dose of antibiotics as a precaution. According to the infection protection, other family members do not need to be treated.
Concern among parents
Petras Alfredsson thinks that the care and the preschool have handled the situation well, but that it was an unpleasant situation.
– Especially the next day, when she woke up with a rash on her legs. Then I got worried and called 1177. We were also offered to take antibiotics and we did so immediately that day, says Petra Alfredsson.
The advice from the care to the family was to be extra vigilant and keep an eye on Lilly.
– It is a serious situation, so we are keeping an extra eye.
According to infection control doctor Maria Marklund, no more suspected infected people had been discovered during Thursday.
Not current with vaccine at the moment
Some parents also think that the infection control should offer vaccines, at least to the siblings.
– Vaccines can sometimes be relevant if there are several infected, but in this situation it is antibiotics that apply and that work the fastest. It is human to be worried, but we care about the population of Västerbotten, says Maria Marklund.