MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s health ministry sought to reassure parents in the Russian capital, Moscow, on Wednesday after 10 children were rushed to hospital with suspected meningitis.
“Cases of enterovirus infections arise periodically in summer in all Russia’s regions, and also in other countries. Currently, regional authorities are taking all necessary steps with regard to individual cases in which the enterovirus infection has been complicated by serous [viral] meningitis. The ministry has this issue under control,” a Russian health ministry press officer said on Wednesday.
There is a heightened awareness of the illness in Russia after a spate of hospitalizations, and one reported fatality, in several regions in southern Russia.
Dozens of children have been admitted to hospital in recent months in outbreaks in the Rostov and Lipetsk Regions.
In total, over 180 people in the Lipetsk Region have been confirmed as having a virus that is associated with meningitis, and 100 of them were hospitalized, a local official told RIA Novosti on Tuesday. In 46 of those cases, the patients were given a clinical diagnosis of meningitis, with lab results confirming this in 23 cases, the local official added.
Local officials in the Rostov Region say 55 children have been diagnosed with viral meningitis.
There are unconfirmed reports that one child has died from meningitis.
Meningitis is the medical term for an inflammation of the membranes that sit between the brain and the skull. It can affect anyone, but the very young and very old are particularly vulnerable.
According to Russian media reports, most of those affected in these latest outbreaks are children, and many are reported to have been in close proximity to one another.
Some forms of meningitis are thought to be caused by viruses such as enteroviruses. However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cautions that “only a small number of people with enterovirus infections actually develop meningitis.”
The Russian Health Ministry has issued health warnings alerting Russians to the fact that these viruses are commonly spread through poor hygiene.
The CDC notes that enteroviruses often spread person-to-person through fecal contamination, and that they can also be communicated by close contact with saliva.
Although the incidence of viral meningitis is known to rise and fall seasonally, health agencies, such as the CDC get involved when there is an outbreak that affects an unusually large number of people, or when any one outbreak results in an unusually large number of fatalities.
