Suspected meningitis knocks down 160 in Astana

Suspected meningitis has forced more than a hundred people into hospital beds in Astana, Tengrinews reports.

According to the Department of Consumer Protection of the capital of Kazakhstan, 160 people have been hospitalized in one month.

“As of July 25, there were 160 patients in hospitals' in-patient wards with symptoms that do not exclude meningitis. Since July 1, after clinical examination 139 patients have been diagnosed with serous meningitis. Of them, 50 cases are laboratory-confirmed," the Department said in a response to a formal inquiry from Tengrinews.

The Department assured that it was not an outbreak but a seasonal rise, since there was a similar number of cases during the same period of last year. The number of cases peaked in July. The majority - 95% - of those diagnosed with meningitis were children under the age of 14.

"No instances of group contagion have been registered, therefore, restrictive measures are not necessary," the Department said in response to a question on whether educational institutions and kindergartens had to be quarantined.

"The Health Department ensured timely hospitalization of the patients with serous meningitis. In cases of serous meningitis caused by enterovirus, disinfection measures in crowded places are not required as personal hygiene is enough to eliminate the nonpercutaneous channel of the infection," the agency said.

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