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CBC News
KING
CITY, ONT. - A 16-year-old Ontario boy is on life-support
in a Quebec hospital with meningitis. This follows news
that Alberta is offering the meningitis vaccine for the
third time this year.
The
hospitalized teen is a student of Country Day School in
King City, just north of Toronto.
Late
last week, the Ontario boy complained of flu-like symptoms
while on a bus trip to a soccer tournament in Sherbrooke,
Que. He was hospitalized there after complaining of fever,
headache and loss of bowel control.
Health
officials have not confirmed if there is another student
in the region with meningitis symptoms. The second boy was
a roommate of the teen with meningitis.
It's
not yet known how or where the boy contracted the meningitis,
but students who came in contact with him are being treated
with a four-day supply of antibiotics.
Meanwhile,
young adults in the Edmonton area are being offered the
meningitis vaccine after officials confirmed seven cases
of the disease.
Brett
Danylyshen, 19, died last week from meningococcal meningitis,
an inflammation or infection of the membrane that lines
the brain and the spinal cord.
Two
other teens have died in Edmonton since last December.
About
210,000 children between the ages of two and 19 were vaccinated
in February. It was one of the largest meningitis immunization
campaigns in Canada.
The
new campaign will target another 145,000 young people missed
in earlier campaigns.
There
have been 38 reported cases of meningitis in the Edmonton
region since early September. In 1997, the last year for
statistics on meningitis, 252 cases were reported in Canada.
The
disease is spread by direct contact with mucous or saliva
from the nose and throat of an infected person through coughing,
sneezing, sharing food, drinks or kissing.
Symptoms
of bacterial meningitis include sudden onset of fever, headache,
neck pain or stiffness, vomiting and irritability.
These
symptoms may quickly progress to decreased consciousness,
convulsions and death. For this reason, if any child displays
symptoms of possible meningitis, he or she should receive
medical care immediately.
For
information on meningitis, people can call 1-800-361-5653.
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