A public health expert has urged parents to be vigilant for the signs of meningitis, after the death of a teenage girl from the meningococcal strain of the disease in Cork University Hospital on Thursday.
Ms Michelle Downey (16), from Douglas, was the second person to die of meningitis in the Southern Health Board area this year.
A local priest, Father Robert Brophy, said yesterday: "Michelle's death has been a nightmare for the family - we are all very shocked by her death."
The Southern Health Board said the usual precautions had been put in place after the case was diagnosed. Family members had been screened and antibiotics were administered where necessary. Three other people from the Cork area are being treated for bacterial meningitis.
The health board's specialist, Dr Fiona Ryan, said: "Our numbers this year are down on last year - up to this time last year we had 58 cases and we have 54 this year so far." Dr Ryan added: "People should be aware that although we don't expect to see many cases in the summer, we are still seeing cases."
The symptoms in young children can start with high temperature, refusal to feed and fretfulness, but it can then progress rapidly to more severe symptoms like difficulty in waking a child and high-pitched moaning or crying.
"In older children or adults, it can start very much like a flu," she warned. If a rash of red or purple spots or bruises occur medical attention should be sought immediately.
