A Boy Dies of Meningococcemia

This headline from the newspaper today caught my attention. That dreadful disease is actually near our place and what's worse is even if the boy died in Amang Rodriguez Hospital in Marikina. He actually resides in San Isidro, Antipolo City. I know not exactly where that place is. But one thing for sure. Whenever I use my mobile network's feature "friend finder" and a loved one happens to be inside our subdivision -- my inbox would read "Kingsville Subd. (our village) Bgy. San Isidro..." I know for a fact that it should have been Bgy.Mayamot, still that goes out to say that Bgy. San Isidro is actually just around the corner. Scary.

I have been hearing Meningococcemia since 2005. I was actually pregnant with our little guy back then and all those scary stuff being told that just a respiratory droplet from the infected person will spread the bacterium far and wide and can get someone dead in the next 24 hours. Cruel disease.

Here's straight from the news:

Boy dies of meningococcemia in Marikina

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

A four-year-old boy died in a hospital in Marikina City from what doctors believe to be meningococcemia.

Dr. Ricardo Lustre, director of the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center (ARMC), ordered hospital staff to trace the last persons who made contact with the victim, Richard Aure, so they could be given proper medical attention.

Aure, of Barangay San Isidro in Antipolo City, was rushed to the hospital last Sunday but was later declared as dead on arrival. His body was sealed to prevent the bacteria from spreading.

Lustre said the ARMC refused to accept incoming patients as hospital staff quarantined the emergency room and other areas where Aure’s body passed. The hospital resumed normal operations at 4 a.m. yesterday, 15 hours after Aure’s arrival at the ARMC.

Lustre instructed hospital personnel to wear surgical masks and take medicine to avoid being infected with meningococcemia, an acute and potentially fatal infection of the bloodstream.

Respiratory droplets released by an infected person who sneezes or coughs can spread the bacterium that causes the disease. – Non Alquitran