The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands are reporting dozens of meningococcal meningitis cases this year, resulting in 11 deaths, according to an AD news report (computer translated).

The death toll year to date equals the number of meningitis fatalities reported in all of 2017.

The meningococcal W cases has prompted experts to call the situation “worrisome”. With 57 people requiring intensive case this year, these people’s live were in danger.

Image/CIA
Image/CIA

Meningococcal disease is a serious disease caused by a bacterium: Neisseria meningitidis. The disease occurs regularly in the Netherlands. There are different types that are indicated by a letter. In the Netherlands people are typically sickened by types B, C, W or Y .

Arie van der Ende, the head  of the Dutch Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis talked about recognizing the disease:

“The beginning often very innocent,” emphasizes head of the laboratory for meningitis Arie van der Ende. ,, That makes this disease so difficult. People often think that it is a flu. “But in meningococcal disease a child or adult can become seriously ill within a few hours. There are two forms of meningococcal disease: meningitis (also known as neck cramps) and blood poisoning (also called sepsis). In the better-known type B, about 70 percent suffer from meningitis and 30 percent from blood poisoning. With type W the ratio is the other way around. What is striking about type W is that it often causes gastrointestinal complaints.