11:29, 08 декабря 2022, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Maria ORLOVA
An increase in the incidence of meningitis is registered in Kyrgyzstan. The Department of Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Ministry of Health reported.
According to the department, meningococcal infection is characterized by cyclicity and seasonality. Cyclic rises in incidence are repeated every 13-15 years. Another increase in the incidence has begun in 2022.
«The ways of transmission of meningococcal infection are airborne, the source of infection is a sick person. The people who do not have clinical signs of the disease pose the greatest epidemic danger. Infection occurs through close contact and close communication. 1-10 days passes from the moment of infection to the onset of the disease. The danger is that it can develop in a matter of hours and even minutes, the so-called fulminant forms of the disease, and it is not always possible to save the patient. The patient is contagious to others from the first days of the disease,» the department noted.
The main symptoms of the disease: severe headache, predominant in the frontotemporal region, repeated vomiting, not associated with eating and not bringing relief, fever up to 39-40 degrees Celsius, chills, lethargy, pale skin, refusal from food and drink. The most formidable symptom that you should definitely pay attention to is the appearance of a rash.
All age groups are susceptible to infection, but children under five years old are more likely to get sick. Adolescents and young 15-25 years old people are also at risk.
More often, meningococcal infection is registered in the winter-spring period (from December to May). The reason for an increase in the incidence is a decrease in the resistance of the nasopharyngeal mucosa due to the high frequency of viral diseases of the respiratory tract, fluctuations in air temperature and high humidity, as well as a decrease in the population’s immunity.
If symptoms of the disease appear, patient should consult a doctor as soon as possible.