A CO Cork schoolgirl who died this week of meningococcal meningitis is the third person to die of the illness in the Southern Health Board region so far this year.
The girl, Amy Rose Grandon, of St Anne's, Cloghroe, near Blarney, was a pupil at Cloghroe National School.
A spokeswoman for the health board said information leaflets were handed out to all staff and children at the school on Thursday morning "as quickly as possible, having ascertained the facts".
She said a letter was immediately sent to parents informing them of the suspected case and enclosing information about meningococcal meningitis. The child's household contacts and close friends of the household who had significant contact with it had received appropriate treatment.
The board has received 63 notifications of meningococcal meningitis so far this year, an increase on the 54 cases for the same period last year. Of the 63 notifications, 43 cases have been confirmed so far, and three people have died.
Reported cases of meningitis and septicaemia in the State rose from 241 in 1994 to 487 in 1998. Twenty-two people died of the infection last year.
The SHB spokeswoman said yesterday that meningococcal disease was now the most common cause of meningitis in Ireland. It can show as meningitis or septicaemia (blood poisoning) and can develop very rapidly, sometimes within hours. It occurs more frequently during the winter and spring. The SHB advised people to continue to be alert to the signs and symptoms of the infection. In babies, these include high temperature, fretfulness, difficult to wake, a high pitched/moaning cry and a rash of red/purple spots or bruises which can occur anywhere on the body.
In children and adults the signs include headache, vomiting, drowsiness and dislike of bright lights. All of the symptoms may not show at the same time.
Meningococcal meningitis is not highly infectious and is transmitted only through close contact with others through, for example, kissing and sneezing. There is as yet no known way to prevent the disease, but if it is diagnosed early and treated promptly, most people make a complete recovery.
The SHB has advised anyone who suspects an incidence of meningitis to seek medical help immediately.
Yesterday the Department of Health ruled out the immediate introduction of an anti-meningitis vaccine. A vaccine has been introduced in Britain, but the Department of Health said it would not introduce it until it had been deemed safe by the Irish Medicines Board.