Meningitis is a severe central nervous system infection that can cause death or leave high sequelae. It’s often caused by pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Hib bacteria, and can be prevented with vaccines with over 90% effectiveness. Doctor Tran Huynh Tan, Medical Manager of VNVC Vaccination System, said that meningitis appears sporadically all year round, with an increasing trend during the hot season. The reason for this increase during hot summers is that they are often accompanied by showers, creating favorable conditions for pathogens to multiply and develop. Additionally, extreme weather can reduce resistance, making people more susceptible to disease.
Vaccination is an active prevention measure for pneumococcal meningitis and its complications, with up to 97% effectiveness. It helps reduce hospitalization rates, shorten treatment time, and lower medical costs compared to non-vaccinated groups. Vaccines also aid in reducing the percentage of healthy people carrying the infection and limit the spread of pneumococcal infection in the community. Pneumococcus is the leading cause of meningitis in Vietnam and causes more than 50% of cases of bacterial meningitis in the US each year.
Meningococcal meningitis often occurs suddenly with symptoms like fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, star-shaped purpura (death rash), drowsiness, and coma. All age groups are susceptible to meningococcal infection
