A 20 year old Montessori teacher in Dublin has died from meningitis. She is the second adult victim of the disease this year.
Ms Gillian Brennan, from Ennis, Co Clare, had been out of work with a sore throat and thought she was coming down with flu, according to Ms Mary Bowers, of the Montessori Education Centre in North Great George's Street. She died at about 8 a.m. yesterday.
So far this month, the Eastern Health Board has been notified of 14 cases of suspected meningococcal meningitis and of two deaths - Ms Brennan and a 19 year old woman - believed to have been caused by the disease.
Doctors from the EHB visited the school yesterday morning and administered preventive antibiotic treatment to children and staff who had been in close contact with the teacher.
The EHB said further cases at the school were unlikely but parents of children at the school should be alert for the signs and symptoms of the disease.
Dr Brian O'Herlihy, the EHB's director of public health, said the bacteria which caused meningococcal meningitis was common in the population and is not highly infectious. The question of closing down the school or placing people in quarantine did not arise, he said.
Ms Bowers said the school was closing until Monday to enable staff to attend Ms Brennan's funeral and because their upset at her death made it difficult to work normally.
Dr O'Herlihy said meningococcal meningitis could occur at any age but was found predominantly in children.
The disease normally begins with flu type illnesses such as headache, vomiting, fever, widespread aches and pains and a sore throat. It progresses to more serious symptoms such as neck stiffness, confusion or delirium, drowsiness, unresponsiveness and even coma. A key symptom is the development of a rash which can start as one or two tiny pink spots anywhere in the body. The spots turn into tiny bruises which don't turn white when touched.
In a less common form of the disease, there is a rapid progression to the more serious symptoms within a matter of hours. In babies the symptoms include going off their feeds, irritability, a high pitched cry, vomiting, drowsiness and unresponsiveness. Dr O'Herlihy said these symptoms would not necessarily mean the baby had meningitis, but if they occurred parents should seek early attention from their family doctor, as rapid treatment is important.
Meanwhile, in response to a perceived high incidence of meningococcal disease in the Galway area, the Meningitis Research Foundation is holding a public meeting at UCG. Five cases in Co Galway have been confirmed over the past month, including one fatality.
The meeting takes place in the new boardroom at the quadrangle on campus on Thursday, January 25th, at 8 p.m. and will be addressed by the Irish co ordinator of the foundation, a representative of the Western Health Board and a parent whose son, a UCG student, died of meningitis last year.