DOH: No meningococcemia outbreak despite 4 cases in Batangas

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday ruled out an outbreak of meningococcemia in Batangas, despite the province having four fatalities in two weeks,  including one whose death was confirmed to be due to the respiratory disease.

DOH Calabarzon director Eduardo Janairo downplayed the four reported cases of meningococcemia as “isolated cases,” adding that these occurred in different areas in the province.

Isolated cases

“We don’t have an outbreak. These are isolated cases. Every once in a while, we do see meningococcemia cases. But it’s not really widespread and there’s no clustering of cases in a particular area,” Janairo said.

He said the 54-year-old patient confirmed to have died from meningococcemia last Sept. 21 was from Tanauan City, while the three other suspected cases were from the towns of Nasugbu, Lian and San Jose, which are “far from each other.”

Awaiting confirmation

Janairo said they are awaiting confirmation from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine if indeed the three patients died due to meningococcemia, a respiratory infection caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria.