CDC reports first meningococcal meningitis case of the year

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) Taiwan has reported its first case of meningococcal meningitis this year involving a senior citizen who was hospitalized for two weeks before passing away in late January, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

The patient, a man in his 70s from northern Taiwan, had breathing difficulties, dizziness, and unexplained falls on Jan. 18 and was taken to an emergency room and later admitted to a hospital the same day, the CDC said.

Diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis, the man was placed in a negative pressure isolation ward and given antibiotics to try to fight the symptoms, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said in a weekly briefing.

The patient was later diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis and, despite receiving medical care, succumbed to the illness and pneumonia on Jan. 31, Lin said.

The CDC noted that the number of meningococcal meningitis cases so far this year is consistent with figures during the same period from 2016 to 2024, when there were zero to two cases from Jan. 1 to Feb. 4.

Full year statistics for 2016 to 2024 indicate that Taiwan reports 1-12 cases annually, with most patients aged 25-64 (30 percent), followed by those aged 19-24 and 65 or older (23 percent each).

Meningococcal meningitis is a bacterial infection of the meninges - membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord - which can cause severe brain damage and is often fatal.

Common symptoms include a stiff neck, high fever, nausea, confusion, headaches, and vomiting, the CDC said.