Taiwan reports 1st meningococcal meningitis case of 2025
The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced Tuesday the first confirmed case of local epidemic meningitis in Taiwan this year.
The patient is a male in his 70s from the north with no history of overseas travel.
On January 18, he presented at the hospital with a number of symptoms. A few days later, the hospital confirmed infection with epidemic meningitis through laboratory tests.
Despite hospitalization and treatment with antibiotics, the patient died on January 31.
The CDC explained that according to their monitoring data, there has been a total of 1 confirmed case of epidemic meningitis in the country this year, which is equivalent to the number of cases in the same period from 2016 to 2024 (between 0 and 2 cases). Statistics from 2016 to 2024 showed that the cumulative number of cases each year was between 1 and 12 cases. The majority of infected individuals were aged 25-64 (accounting for 30%), followed by 19-24 and over 65 (each accounting for 23%).
Meningococcal meningitis with Rodney Rohde, PhD
The CDC stated that the pathogen of epidemic meningitis is Neisseria meningitidis, which is mainly transmitted through contact with the throat and nasal secretions or droplets of an infected person or carrier. It can only be effectively transmitted through close or prolonged contact.
Healthy people may present asymptomatic carriers in the nasopharynx, and only a few carriers will develop invasive diseases. People with weakened immune systems are more likely to become ill.
The incubation period is about 2 to 10 days. The main symptoms are fever, severe headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, hemorrhagic rash, etc., and sometimes coma and delirium may also occur. In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis, and even shock and death, and antibiotic treatment is required in a timely manner.
Infants under 1 year old have less typical clinical symptoms and are less easily detected. They often only have fever and vomiting. They may also be restless, cry, be difficult to feed, or have a protruding fontanelle, but they may not necessarily have typical meningitis symptoms such as neck stiffness.
The CDC reminds that winter and spring are the peak seasons for many respiratory diseases. People should try to avoid staying in overcrowded or poorly ventilated places for a long time, and pay attention to hand and respiratory hygiene to reduce the chance of infection. If suspected symptoms occur, they should seek medical attention as soon as possible for early diagnosis and treatment to avoid worsening of the disease.