By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Two Negrense women suspected to have meningococcemia did not have the disease, according to the Provincial Health Office.
Results of confirmatory tests showed that they were negative of the bacteria, the provincial health officer Dr. Ernel Tumimbang said yesterday.
One of them, a resident of Valladolid town, has died. She was buried on Saturday.
“The family had a problem during the wake last week because people were afraid to visit and condole with them,” Tumimbang said.
The provincial health officer, however, cannot be certain about the cause of her death. “I think it was pneumonia,” he said.
He said the patient sought treatment from the provincial government-run Valladolid District Hospital and died there.
Tumimbang said the rural health unit in Valladolid has administered prophylaxis injections to the woman’s family, those who brought her to the hospital, and the nurses who attended to her.
The other patient was from San Carlos City.
She was suffering from vasculitis and was confined in Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Tumimbang said.
Meningococcemia is an acute and potentially life-threatening infection of the bloodstream, the St. Elizabeth Health Care in Cincinnati, United States, said on its website.
It is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitides, which can spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
Among its symptoms are fever, headache, irritability, muscle pain, nausea, red or purple rashes, and large areas of bleeding under the skin.
Vasculitis, on the other hand, is an inflammation of the blood vessels, the American nonprofit health care organization Mayo Clinic said on its website.
It causes changes in the walls of blood vessels, including thickening, weakening, narrowing, and scarring. The inflammation can be so severe the tissues and organs served by the affected vessels could not get enough blood. The blood shortage can result in organ and tissue damage, even death./PN
