She died at the age of 18 from meningococcal meningitis: several dozen contact cases detected in France

Une quarantaine de cas contacts ont été détectés. MAXPPP Illustration – Quentin Top

La jeune femme de 18 ans est morte ce lundi 3 février à Rennes des suites d’une méningite à méningocoques. Deux autres patients ont été hospitalisés et une quarantaine de cas contacts ont été identifiés.

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According to information from Ouest France, an 18-year-old woman died this Monday, February 3, from meningococcal meningitis in the Rennes region, in Brittany. Three other patients, who were in contact according to Ouest France, were admitted to the Rennes hospital center. Among them, one patient is said to be “closely monitored” while the health of the other two is said to be “improving”.

About forty people in contact

“Upon receipt of the first report, the ARS Bretagne conducted an epidemiological investigation to identify the contacts and offer them prophylactic antibiotic treatment”, explains the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of the Brittany region, which manages these cases within a family. Thus, around forty people were identified as “contacts” and “benefited from antibiotic treatment”.

The ARS defines meningitis as an “infection of the fluid and membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord”, which specifies that the warning symptoms are “a high fever that is poorly tolerated and/or one or more rapidly appearing red or purplish spots“. According to the ARS, between 500 and 600 people are affected by meningitis each year.

In 2023, according to the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM), its mortality rate is 10%. Since January 1, vaccination against meningococcus types ACWY and B has become mandatory for infants. Until then, only vaccination against meningitis C was mandatory, since 2018.