Student with meningococcal making 'good progress'

Keith Reid.
Keith Reid.
An 18-year-old University of Otago student taken to hospital with meningococcal disease at the weekend is making good progress, the district health board says.

The male student, a resident at Studholme College, was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Keith Reid said yesterday the man was ''stable and progressing favourably'' in Dunedin Hospital.

Public Health South and Student Health said on Monday they were monitoring the situation closely.

Dr Reid said the present rate for meningococcal disease in the southern area was slightly higher than previous years.

''There have been six cases of confirmed meningococcal disease in the Southern DHB area and 30 cases in New Zealand so far this year,'' Dr Reid said.

Five of the six cases had been in Dunedin, and one was an overseas visitor who was treated in Dunedin.

The ages of the patients ranged from 8 to 46. The conditions they developed varied from a joint infection to severe septicaemia.

''Four of the cases have required treatment in intensive care,'' Dr Reid said.

However, meningococcal was still a rare condition, he said.

''We might expect to see around nine to 10 cases in a 12-month period [in the SDHB area] and 120-130, or thereabouts, across the country as a whole.''

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement