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Meningococcal Disease and students |
Mumps and measles |
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Meningococcal disease is dangerous because illness can start with a flu like illness and develop very rapidly. It leads to death in 5-10% of cases. Illness is due to septicaemia (blood poisoning), meningitis (inflammation of the brain lining) or a combination of the two. More deaths are caused by septicaemia than by meningitis. The early signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease may be non specific and difficult to distinguish from influenza or other diseases. Early symptoms include fever, vomiting, malaise and lethargy. Should a student be admitted to hospital with suspected meningococcal disease, the usual control measure is to offer a course of antibiotics to close contacts. close contacts include intimate kissing contacts and may include household contacts if the student has stayed at home in the week before falling ill. Antibiotics are not routinely given to students or staff at the same college/university after a single case of meningitis. Students and staff at the school should attend as normal. The germ which commonly causes meningococcal disease is relatively common and lives naturally at the back of the throat or nose in about 10 to 20% of the population. It spreads by droplets from the nose and throat through close contact. Their survival time outside the human body is very short. |
Measles Measles is a highly infectious disease; in a susceptible population, up to 17 secondary cases will be observed for ever index case. All cases (suspected and confirmed) should be notified to the local health protection unit to enable public health action to be taken promptly. Laboratory confirmation of all suspected cases is required. Measles is spread by droplet transmission, the incubation period ranges between 7 and 18 days (average 10 days), and individuals remain infectious from the beginning of first symptoms to 4 days after the appearance of the rash. Symptoms may include fever, malaise, cold symptoms, conjunctivitis and cough. Koplik spots may be observed on the mucous membranes of the mouth and the rash usually appears one to two days later. The rash of measles starts initially in the hairline, but spreads rapidly to cover the face, trunk and limbs. it is maculopapular but not itchy and fades over a week to ten days. Complications occur in around 30% of cases. Those at highest risk of complications are infants, adults and those who are immuno-compromised. The most common cause of death associated with measles is pneumonia (1-6%); other common |
As the germ cannot survive for long outside the human body, infection cannot be caught from water supplies, swimming pools or buildings.
The public should be aware of the signs and symptoms of meningitis at all times, as most cases of meningitis occur as isolated incidents. The advice of the family doctor or NHS Direct should be obtained if any student suffers from the following symptoms: Severe headache, fever, a rash, particularly any rash where the skin underneath does not whiten if pressure is applied, stiff neck, photophobia and vomiting.
The Men C vaccine is available for College and University students under the age of 25 years. This provides protection against group C strain but not group B which is the most common strain in the UK.
Further information can be obtained from the following helplines and websites.
The Meningitis Research Foundation.
080 8800 3344 (24 hour helpline)
Information on this page has been obtained from the Health Protection Agency.
Brownlow medical is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
complications include ear ache (7-9%), diarrhoea (8%) and convulsions (0.5%). Other rarer complications include encephalitis (acute inflammation of the brain, 1 per 1000 cases) andsub acute sclerosing pan-encephalitis (a rare chronic, progressive encephalitis, 1 per 8,000 cases in children under 2 years) a rare but fatal complication of measles infection.
Measles infection is preventable through vaccination; two doses of MMR are required to produce satisfactory protection against measles, mumps and rubella. there are no ill effects from vaccination of individuals who have a history of having either measles, mumps or rubella infections.
MMR vaccine can be given to individuals of any age.
Mumps
If you are aged between 14 and 25 there is a good chance that you have only had one dose fo the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. you need two doses of MMR to be properly immunised. there have recently been outbreaks of mumps among teenagers and young people because they have not been fully protected.
Mumps is an acute viral illness that causes fever, headache and painful swollen glands. It is spread from person to person by coughs and sneezes, it can also be transmitted by direct contact through saliva.
The only effective way to prevent mumps is to have two MMR vaccinations. if you don't know if you've had MMR before, having more than one or two doses won't do you any harm.
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