China issued emergency regulations on Tuesday to counter an outbreak of the deadly spinal disease meningitis that has killed at least 16 people among 258 cases this month.
The whole country has been affected with the exception of Fujian province in the south-east, Hainan in the south and the Tibet region, the health ministry said on its website.
”At present, there were 258 cases of meningitis reported in January with 16 fatalities, 43 more cases than in December 2004 and 94 more cases than in the same period last year,” the ministry said.
The worst-hit provinces are Anhui, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu and Sichuan.
In eastern Anhui, 62 cases have been reported leading to six deaths, including five schoolchildren.
Nearly 80% of the cases occurred in children aged between 13 and 18, the China Youth Daily reported.
The ministry ordered hospitals and clinics to step up disease prevention, surveillance and control operations in an effort to curb the outbreak.
All children under 15 who have not been vaccinated and are living in areas where meningitis outbreaks have occurred should be vaccinated, the emergency order said.
Schools and kindergartens where outbreaks occur should be shut down and children should be kept away from public places, it said.
Vaccines are being distributed nationwide, but in Anhui there is a shortage of vaccines for group C-type meningitis, which is spreading there, reports said.
Cerebro-spinal meningitis can be caused by 13 groups of bacteria, with groups A, B and C being the cause of the present outbreak, the China Daily said.
Meningitis is characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense headaches, nausea and vomiting, a stiff neck and shock, and can sometimes lead to death.
It is transmitted by direct contact, including droplets from the noses and throats of infected patients. The same bacterium could also cause meningococcaemia when it enters the bloodstream.
In Hong Kong, health authorities voiced concerns that the outbreak could cross into the former British colony, like the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome that caused havoc in 2003.
”At the moment, we are trying to seek information from China regarding the outbreak of the meningococcal infection. It seems to be serious because there are a number of fatalities,” said York Chow, Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food.
”We want to know whether this is something that has been endemic for sometime, or whether this is a new strain because a special vaccination is available for meningococcal infection.”
China’s health ministry urged medical workers to be alert for the disease during the upcoming Lunar New Year travel period when hundreds of millions of Chinese return to their hometowns for annual family reunions.
Medical teams have been set up to inspect sanitary conditions on Chinese trains and will be on duty 24 hours a day through the holiday period until March 3, reports said.
Meningitis regularly affects China. Between 2001 and 2004, the number of cases annually reported nationwide ranged from 2 250 to 2 698.
In total, 546 cases of meningitis were reported in China during the three months from November 2004 to the end of January, the ministry said, without giving a death toll. — Sapa-AFP