Meningitis C killed an infant at Saintes hospital. Taken care of quickly, the baby died of purpura fulminans, an extremely serious form of the infection.
The evolution has been dazzling. On the night of January 15 to 16, an infant died of meningitis at the hospital in Saintes (Charente-Maritime). Supported by the SAMU and despite the antibiotic treatments initiated quickly, the baby did not survive. a purpura fulminans, a very serious symptom of infection, was diagnosed. The young patient suffered from meningitis C.
Little chance of survival
The parents of this child first contacted Center 15, specifies the CH Saintonge (Saintes), which noted the death, in a press release. The infant presented with a high fever with rash. They are the manifestation of a purpura fulminans, associated with invasive meningococcal infection. This infectious syndrome is the witness of a severe form of sepsis which causes blood clotting and tissue necrosis. The spots on the skin are due to a hemorrhagic lesion of this one.
the purpura fulminans leaves few outcomes for the patient who develops it. “This lightning pathology leaves little chance of survival (50% mortality) and when possible the complications are always very serious (physical and neurological sequelae”, specifies the CH in a press release relayed by our colleagues from France 3 Charente-Maritime.
Preventive antibiotic therapy
As a precaution, antibiotics were prescribed to 6 family members who approached the baby within 48 hours of hospitalization. Some hospital staff received the same treatment. In fact, close contact of at least one hour with a symptomatic person is necessary for a risk of contamination to exist. Beyond a window of 48 to 72 hours, the risk is ruled out because the meningococcus is very fragile and does not survive long outside the body.
The doctors of Saintes did not plan to extend the vaccination beyond this narrow circle. The students of the campus of the University of Dijon (Côte-d’Or) were not so lucky. Recently exposed to several cases of W meningitis, students and teachers had to be vaccinated for prevention. No less than 30,000 people are targeted by this campaign. The vaccine used, in a single dose, protects against four strains of meningococcus (A, C, Y and W). Meningococci have seemed particularly virulent in recent months. Also in Montélimar (Drôme), a man died from a fulgurating form of the infection.
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