An 18 -year -old woman dies from meningococcal meningitis

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Several cases of meningococcal meningitis were reported in the same family on Friday in Rennes. Forty contact cases have been identified by ARS.
A death in a cluster. The Regional Health Agency (ARS) in Brittany confirmed the death on Monday of a young woman aged only 18 years of consequences of meningococcal B meningitis in the Rennes region (Ille-et-Vilaine). According to information from Ouest-France confirmed by the ARS to local radio here, several cases of meningococcal meningitis were reported in the same family on Friday, in Rennes and in the Near Rennes suburbs. Two other individuals are still hospitalized at the Rennes University Hospital.
In total, according to here, ARS would have identified around forty cases of meningococcal B contacts in Ille-et-Vilaine. All of these people affected by this cluster would have undergone prophylactic antibiotic treatment to avoid the development of infection.
Méningococci is a family of bacteria that cause very dangerous and contagious meningitis, mainly in children and adolescents. It is far from being the only cause of meningitis, a generic term which designates an inflammation of the membranes of the brain or the spinal cord. The majority of time, a virus is involved.
But viral meningitis is generally much less serious than bacterial. The latter, which are manifested in particular by a high fever and a stiff neck, kill a patient in a lightning way if they are not neat. And, when they are, mortality remains 10%, not to mention frequent sequelae: amputation, cognitive disorders, deafness … In addition, meningococci are easily transmitted from one person to another. They can therefore cause epidemics, which justified the development of vaccines.