VietNamNet Bridge - Hospitalisations for meningitis have been increasing in the north, deputy director of the Central Epidemic Prevention Institute Dr Pham Ngoc Dinh said.

The doctor attributed the rise to seasonal changes between March and May.

On average, the Central Paediatric Hospital and the National Institute for Clinical Research in Tropical Medicine receive seven afflicted people a week. The figure sometimes climbs to 15 cases.

Dinh said viral meningitis had mainly occurred in the north. The disease tended to appear in the south later, usually between May and July.

The Central Epidemic Prevention Institute warned that viral meningitis could cause bacterial meningitis, which was very dangerous and often deadly.

The proportion of people suffering from the disease has been increasing in the past three years. Between 30 and 50 cases of viral meningitis are reported each year in the north. The number is much higher for bacterial meningitis, totalling several hundred cases.

Dinh said only the Central Epidemic Prevention Institute and the Pasteur Institute were able to do tests to diagnose people afflicted by viral meningitis.

High costs and environmental requirements were attributed as main reasons hindering hospitals at provincial and grassroots levels from diagnosing the disease.

The disease is mostly found in children and young people who are living in dormitories and schools or in crowded residential areas with poor sanitation.

People who recover from the disease are prone to relapse two or three years following initial infection. One residual effect is nerve damage.

Dr Pham Nhat An at the Central Paediatric Hospital said bacterial meningitis could occur all year round. But a high proportion of people were afflicted during winter-spring, especially in wet weather.

Meningitis vaccines

The Health Ministry has been able to report the number of people afflicted with meningitis but has been unable to distinguish between different types of the disease among the afflicted.

Viet Nam has had three types of vaccines against meningitis. One of them is a vaccine for viral meningitis types A and C. But the vaccine will expire after 2-3 years and cost is high. Epidemic specialists have accordingly recommended use only for people living in high-risk areas.

A vaccine for bacterial meningitis is also available in Viet Nam. But it has not yet been produced domestically, so the poor have had trouble acquiring it.

According to Dr Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the national expanded vaccination programme’s project management board, the vaccine for bacterial meningitis will be provided for free starting next year.

(Source: VNS)