John Staples
HEALTH officials were last night preparing to give
antibiotics to hundreds of pupils after two children who lived in the same
town died of meningitis.
Medics are preparing to give out the preventive medicine following the deaths of Kiera McRitchie, five, and Abbie Macauley, six, who went to primary schools in the Murray area of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.
The local health board yesterday confirmed that Kiera, who died on Saturday, had fallen victim to the "B" strain of meningococcal septicaemia, the variety of the bacterial infection that cannot be vaccinated against. Doctors are still waiting for the results from tests on Abbie, who died on Sunday, but it is widely suspected that she too fell victim to meningococcal septicaemia.
Yesterday, NHS Lanarkshire said that consent forms are being sent to parents so they can today give antibiotics to 800 children at Southpark, Heatheryknowe and St Louise’s primary schools in East Kilbride. A further 200 staff will also be offered the treatment. Parents were also warned to watch out for the flu-like symptoms of the disease.
Meningococcal septicaemia is the most lethal form of meningitis and lives in a bacterial form. At any one time, about 10 per cent of the population has some form of bacterial meningitis living in their throats or noses, and it only rarely develops into the lethal form. While the bacteria can be passed by close contact, it cannot survive in atmospheric airborne conditions for longer than a few seconds, meaning it cannot be spread rapidly over distances. Children are most susceptible to the illness.
The antibiotic treatment suggested by NHS Lanarkshire attacks the bacteria within a person’s body, killing it off and preventing it from developing into the more serious meningococcal form.
Medics are preparing to give out the preventive medicine following the deaths of Kiera McRitchie, five, and Abbie Macauley, six, who went to primary schools in the Murray area of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.
The local health board yesterday confirmed that Kiera, who died on Saturday, had fallen victim to the "B" strain of meningococcal septicaemia, the variety of the bacterial infection that cannot be vaccinated against. Doctors are still waiting for the results from tests on Abbie, who died on Sunday, but it is widely suspected that she too fell victim to meningococcal septicaemia.
Yesterday, NHS Lanarkshire said that consent forms are being sent to parents so they can today give antibiotics to 800 children at Southpark, Heatheryknowe and St Louise’s primary schools in East Kilbride. A further 200 staff will also be offered the treatment. Parents were also warned to watch out for the flu-like symptoms of the disease.
Meningococcal septicaemia is the most lethal form of meningitis and lives in a bacterial form. At any one time, about 10 per cent of the population has some form of bacterial meningitis living in their throats or noses, and it only rarely develops into the lethal form. While the bacteria can be passed by close contact, it cannot survive in atmospheric airborne conditions for longer than a few seconds, meaning it cannot be spread rapidly over distances. Children are most susceptible to the illness.
The antibiotic treatment suggested by NHS Lanarkshire attacks the bacteria within a person’s body, killing it off and preventing it from developing into the more serious meningococcal form.
