Experts give their opinion on the death of a baby due to bacterial meningitis | THE UNIVERSAL

Lhe residents of Pasacaballos are shocked by the death of a 4-month-old baby, apparently due to bacterial meningitis. According to the District Health Administrative Department (Dadis), the infant did not have the complete vaccination schedule. (Read: Four-month-old baby died of bacterial meningitis in Pasacaballos)

“SThis is a 4-month-old male patient with an incomplete vaccination schedule for his age. When reviewing his vaccination card, we found that the first dose for pneumococcus corresponding to 2 months of age was given at 4 months, that is, on February 15, 2022. The minor was assessed by the hematology service, which confirmed by laboratory tests (CSF Gram) bacterial meningitis. The patient presented rapid neurological deterioration in Glasgow 8/15, he was transferred to the recovery room, where he required invasive mechanical ventilation requiring management in the Intensive Care Unit. On March 1, the patient died,” they reported from Dadis Public Health. (You may also be interested in: Comprehensive Care Day in Pasacaballos was fulfilled)

Dadis is also studying the death of a minor under 4 years of age in Pasacaballos, apparently due to the same illness.

“Taking into account the time established by the National Institute of Health (INS), that is, eight weeks to carry out the adjustment and the CSF culture result, the analysis unit will be carried out for the final classification of the case,” he added. the entity. For his part, Rubén Sabogal, president of the Health Committee of Cartagena and Bolívar, pointed out that the origin of the disease must be determined. “Meningitis is the inflammation of the layers that cover the brain to defend it from future attacks. In the case of bacterial, patients present very dramatic symptoms such as chills, fever, headaches, vomiting, disorders of consciousness and the neck becomes stiff. A part of the head bulges out in children and has a high mortality rate when it is not treated in time,” Sabogal said.

And he continued: “Normally the meningeal condition can go through an epidemic or can present as isolated cases. Bacterial, for example, is considered to be one of the most delicate due to its high contagiousness. Infected people require isolation and urgent medical attention. In some viral processes many citizens can be compromised and there might be an epidemic of meningitis because meningococcus is a highly contagious bacterium”.

Sabogal considers that it is important to determine the origin of the cases. “It is possible that a phenomenon has caused the introduction of germs. They can be through the air through the nose, ears and this through the blood, ”he said.

“Usually they are infections that are born or occur first in the respiratory system and because of their proximity they infiltrate the membranes that cover the brain. When it is produced by meningococcus, it is a public health problem because it is very easy for it to spread to nearby people through respiratory particles,” added Luis Gaviria, internist and intensivist.

Gaviria stressed that there are vaccines that help prevent it. Dadis is also studying the death of a minor under 4 years of age in Pasacaballos, apparently due to the same illness.