TRAVELLERS have been warned of a life-threatening infection that can kill within 24 hours, after cases of the disease were detected in four holiday hotspots as well as the UK.
In recent weeks, France, Norway, the US and the UK have all reported cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in people who’ve travelled to Saudi Arabia.
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In its most recent Communicable Disease Threats Report, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned that someone in the Netherlands had picked up the sometimes deadly disease without having travelled to the Middle Eastern region.
Though they hadn’t gone there themselves, the patient fell ill with IMD after coming into “close contact” with people who’d returned from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on May 8.
“The case itself did not join on the travellers and it is not possible to rule out other potential exposures,” the ECDC stated.
The person began experiencing symptoms of IMD serogroup W on May 16 and wasn’t vaccinated against the disease.
Read more on travel warnings
Meningococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis and can result in two serious illnesses – meningitis and septicaemia.
The bacteria often lurks in the back of the throat without making people ill, but they can occasionally invade the body and cause a severe bacterial infection that tends to progress rapidly.
Meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia need urgent treatment with antibiotics and rapid admission to hospital so they don’t become life-threatening.
Up to 10 per cent of meningococcal disease can result in death, according to the charity Meningitis Now.
And according to the Meningitis Research Foundation, nine in 10 children and teenagers who die of meningococcal meningitis pass away within 24 hours.
Babies and young children are most at risk, followed by teens and young adults.
It comes after three people tested positive for the disease in the UK after coming back from Saudi Arabia.
Four cases of the disease were also reported in France, five in the US and one in Norway, all in travellers or contacts of pilgrims returning from Umrah pilgrimage.
Believers in the Muslim faith make Umrah trips to the holy city Mecca throughout the year to receive blessings.
Muslims also make a more extended pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime during a set time of year called Hajj, which this year falls between June 14 and 19.
“Over two million pilgrims are expected to attend Hajj from all over the world, including from 24 EU/EEA countries,” the ECDC said.
It said health authorities in Saudi Arabia had issued a list of requirements for 2024 Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, which included getting the quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine (ACYW) polysaccharide vaccine at least 10 days prior to arrival or having had the jab in the last three years.
Travellers also had the option of having the quadrivalent
ACYW conjugated vaccine within the last five years, and at least 10 days prior to arrival.
Know the signs of meningitis and septicaemia
Meningitis is inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord – the meninges.
Septicaemia is blood poisoning caused by the same germs as meningitis and is life-threatening. It can occur with or without meningitis.
Both meningitis and septicaemia can kill in hours, so it is critical to know the symptoms so you can act fast.
Symptoms can appear in any order and not all of them show. For example, the meningitis rash does not always appear.
It can be hard to tell meningitis/septicaemia apart from other common bugs.
The symptoms marked with a * indicate those that are more specific to meningitis/septicaemia and are rarer with common bugs.
Symptoms of both septicaemia and meningitis
- Fever and/or vomiting
- Very sleepy, vacant or difficult to wake
- Confused/delirious*
- A rash, which can be anywhere on the body*
Additional symptoms of meningitis
- Severe headache
- Seizures
- Dislike of bright lights
- Stiff neck*
Additional symptoms of septicaemia
- Breathing fast/breathlessness
- Pale or mottled skin
- Limb/muscle/joint pain, which may come with stomach pain or diarrhoea *
- Cold hands, feet or shivering*
Source: Meningitis Research Foundation
Aside from IMD, pilgrims could be at higher risk of respiratory diseases and mosquito borne illnesses, health authorities said.
The ECDC said the risk of IMD spreading across Europe because of imported cases was “very low”.
As for pilgrims, it said their risk of infection was higher is they hadn’t been vaccinated.
People travelling to Saudi Arabia were previously urged to watch out for the symptoms meningitis and septicaemia, which can progress “rapidly” and require urgent medical support and emergency antibiotics.
Doctors were also notified to look for signs of meningitis in returning travellers and to flag if the person has been to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.
Vaccinations offer some protection against certain causes of meningitis.
These include the:
- Meningitis B vaccine – offered to babies aged 8 weeks, followed by a second dose at 16 weeks, and a booster at 1 year
- 6-in-1 vaccine – offered to babies at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age
- Pneumococcal vaccine – offered to babies at 12 weeks and between 12 and 13 months old
- Meningitis C vaccine – offered at 12 weeks of age, 1 year
- MMR vaccine – offered to babies at 1 year and a second dose at 3 years and 4 months
- Meningitis ACWY vaccine – offered to teenagers who are in S3 (around 14 years of age) at school. Young people who are in S4-S6 and missed the opportunity to get immunised last year, may also get the vaccine at school this year
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