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Meningitis epidemic in Tripura

There are reports of a meningitis outbreak in Tripura. The disease has affected at least four villages of a block in Longtarai valley.

Meningitis epidemic in Tripura

There are reports of a meningitis outbreak in Tripura. The disease has affected at least four villages of a block in Longtarai valley, Dhalai district. Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the membranous layer that covers the brain and the spinal cord. Bacterial meningitis can be severe and may result in brain damage, hearing loss, learning disability, or even death. Tripura government has asked the Centre to send drugs and a team of doctors to control the fast spreading meningitis in Dhalai, which has so far claimed 17 lives in the district. Though the Central Government is looking at the situation very vigilantly, so far it has not been declared as an epidemic. Tripura Health Minister, Tapan Chakraborty, told media persons here that he had written an urgent letter to the Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, to dispatch drugs and special medical teams to combat the disease. Patients with meningitis need to be admitted to the hospital immediately. The disease can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics. It is important, however, that treatment be started early in the course of the disease. Appropriate antibiotic treatment should reduce the risk of death to below 15%, although the risk is higher among the elderly. A temporary hospital has been set up at Chhamanu and many health camps have been set up in different parts of Longterai subdivision to control the problem. The situation has created a state of panic, especially after diarrhoea and gastroenteritis also began to spread in that area.
PTI
February 2009
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