Key Points
- Children under five and young adults between the ages of 15 and 25 are most at risk of contracting meningococcal.
- The disease is spread through close or prolonged contact with others.
- Early intervention is key in reducing the likelihood of disability or death.
Parents and teenagers are being urged to be on alert for meningococcal symptoms after cases were reported among young people who attended music festivals and schoolies events in recent weeks.
An 18-year-old woman from NSW died of a week after attending the Spilt Milk music festival in Canberra.
A public health alert was also issued by Victorian authorities this week after an 18-year-old returned from schoolies celebrations in the Queensland town of Maroochydore with meningococcal.
The number of confirmed cases in 2022 of the rare but potentially fatal disease has already outpaced the 2021 national figure of 74. Why?
How can you contract meningococcal disease and who is most at risk?
Anyone can contract meningococcal disease, but children under five and young adults between the ages of 15 and 25 are most at risk.
Infectious diseases paediatrician Professor Robert Booy said it's caused by strains of the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, and spread through close or prolonged contact with others.
"People who are coughing, shouting, singing, kissing can spread viruses, so it's a risk factor for teenagers to catch it, if you have more than one person you kiss," he told SBS News.
"You don't have to snog someone, but you can certainly catch it more commonly through snogging because it's the close, intimate, oral mouth contact that spreads germs."
Professor Robert Booy is an infectious diseases paediatrician. Credit: LinkedIn/Robert Booy
"The close contact between young people at events like schoolies may have placed them at an increased risk of contracting this infection," Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Associate Professor Deborah Friedman said.
Professor Booy said are five times more likely to contract the meningococcal disease than their non-Indigneous counterparts.
Other risk factors include having a viral infection like the flu, being in contact with smokers, and not having a spleen.
What are the symptoms of meningococcal?
Professor Booy said the symptoms of meningococcal can include:
- Fever
- Red-purple rash which doesn't fade when pressed with a glass
- Severe headache
- Abdominal or limb pain
- Sensitivity to lights
- A firm, stiff neck
- Nausea and vomiting
- Cold feet or hands
- Mottled skin
He warned the rash - perhaps meningococcal's most well-known symptom - can take up to 12 hours after infection to appear, so people should be on the lookout for other signs
Young children may have non-specific symptoms including:
- Irritability
- difficulty waking
- high-pitched crying
- Refusing to eat
"In little babies who can't tell you they've got a headache, they can have a bulging fontanelle - that means that a little soft spot on top of their head sticks out because there's increased pressure in the head from meningitis," Professor Booy said.
Given the rapid progression of the disease, early detection is key.
"We have golden hours between when you're treatable and recoverable, and when you're not," Professor Booy said.
"Anywhere between 12 and 36 hours, we can go from being healthy and normal to severely unwell."
Dr Jeremy McAnulty, executive director of Health Protection NSW, said acting quickly when any of the symptoms emerge could help to prevent death or disability.
"I urge everyone not to discount symptoms when they appear or assume it may be just a mild infection," he said.
"If you suspect meningococcal disease, don't wait for the rash – see a doctor immediately."
Are vaccines for meningococcal available?
Children in Australia are given the meningococcal ACWY vaccine - which covers four strains of the bacteria - as part of the National Immunisation Program.
But Professor Boy said that the vaccine won't protect them from the most common strain recorded in Australia this year - B.
"Because the number [of cases] is less than 100 per year, the meningococcal B vaccine, even though it's safe and effective, is not routinely recommended in Australia," he said.
"The only state in Australia that routinely vaccinates against B for babies and teenagers is South Australia."
While Aboriginal and Torres Strait children up to the age of two and people with certain medical conditions can get meningococcal B vaccine for free, others can typically expect to pay between $110 and $150 per dose.
The death rate for meningococcal disease is between 5 and 10 per cent.
Professor Booy said around another 20 per cent of cases will result in health complications like amputation, deafness, and impaired attention and memory.
"Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your loved ones and the community from the harmful effects of meningococcal disease," Associate Professor Friedman said.
