Meningitis outbreak registered in Almaty and Semipalatinsk

More than one thousand people, mostly children, have been hospitalised in Kazakhstan over the past three months with meningitis, according to a Kazakh health official. "There is a meningitis outbreak in Almaty and Semipalatinsk cities going on now and some 85 percent of the patients are children," Ayzad Moldogasimova, head of the epidemiological control department, told IRIN from the Kazakh capital, Astana, on Wednesday. According to the country's epidemiological department, 1,005 meningitis cases have been registered in the Kazakh commercial capital of Almaty, including 96 meningococcal infections, 474 viral and 435 bacterial forms. Four people have died of the disease. In the northeastern Kazakh city of Semipalatinsk, 88 meningitis cases have been reported since July 2004, of which 86 cases were viral and two were bacterial forms, with no casualties. "In Semipalatinsk all the infected children have a mild form of the disease and they are getting over it quite quickly," Moldogasimova pointed out. "All the patients were hospitalised and as of today, 820 people have been discharged from hospitals in Almaty after treatment and recuperation, while in Semipalatinsk that figure is 45," the epidemiologist noted. "There are now 185 patients in Almaty hospitals and 43 people are [undergoing treatment] in Semipalatinsk." According to the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. Viral or aseptic meningitis, which is the most common type, is caused by an infection with one of several types of viruses. Meningitis can also be caused by infections with several types of bacteria or fungi. The common symptoms of meningitis are fever, severe headache, stiff neck, pain in bright lights, drowsiness or confusion, and nausea and vomiting. In babies, the symptoms are more difficult to identify, but might include fever, irritability, difficulty in awakening, or refusal to eat. But it is the meningococcal infection which is the most dangerous and can be fatal. Although the situation with regard to that disease remained relatively stable in Central Asia's largest state, according to the health ministry, it was more of a concern in Almaty, where infections had increased in frequency by a factor of two. There were 29 cases of meningococcal disease in Almaty in the first seven months of 2003, while over the same period in 2004 that figure had risen to 69, Moldogasimova said. Given that some 46 percent of patients in Almaty had the viral form, health officials believe that the recent outbreak was mainly contracted by swimming in open reservoirs contaminated by sewage. The disease tends to reoccur every 10 years or so. There have been outbreaks in late 1980s and in mid 1990s, Moldogasimova explained. Meanwhile, there are signs of improvement. "The outbreak tends to be going down in Almaty. Before, 28 to 30 children were being brought in every day, now it is 12-14," she noted, adding, however, that by the end of September the number of cases would drop even further. In an effort to mitigate the risk, city health bodies have banned swimming in all pools located in child care institutions and the control of food sterilisation has been improved with the disinfection of aqua parks and public pools now underway. "We have taken all necessary preventive measures on the issue," the Kazakh health official said.