How a 6-year-old girl endured Meningococcemia
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What started out as a fever turned out to be an infectious disease. Find out how a 6-year-old girl from Meningococcemia.
Meningococcemia is a fatal and infectious bacterial disease. The Department of Health tallied 212 cases of this from January to November 2019, 108 of which resulted to death.
The Healthy Juan addressed this issue, covering the viral story of a little girl named Jhianne in San Pablo, Laguna.
In 2018, what started out as a simple fever became a complication that a 6-year-old girl was not ready for. Together with her mother, Nana, they went to various hospitals before discovering it was Meningococcemia.
The journey was never easy for the little girl. In just a few days in the ICU, Jhianne's once red lips turned black, filled with dark rashes.
“Ang unique at distinct na feature nitong meningococcemia ay 'yung type of rash na ito, sinasabi nila, kumakalat at medyo iba ang kulay,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire, Assistant Secretary of Health, DOH.
“Yung Meningococcemia o Stevens Johnsons Syndrome, lahat ng open sa body part mo 'yung sisirain niya - eyes, mouth, ears. Yung eyes niya all the time sugat siya,” Nana explained.
According to Healthline, the common and early symptoms of Meningococcemia are:
- Fever
- Headache
- Rash
- Nausea
- Irritability
- Anxiety
But as for Jhianne, she experienced fever, vomiting, body pain and weakness, rashes, and cold feet and hands.
“Pag sinasabi nating extremes of ages, yan 'yung mga less than five years old na bata pero especially those less than one-year-old pwede, o kaya yung mga talagang senior citizens,” said Dr. Vergeire.
“Kasi usually 'tong mga bata na ganito pa lang ang edad, hindi pa masyadong developed yung kanilang immune systems,”
“This is preventable actually. If you only practice good hygiene, if you only have yourselves healthy, at tsaka po nagkakaroon tayo nung awareness na may ganitong sakit at madaling maihawa.”
Fortunately, after a month long of enduring the Meningococcemia in the hospital, Jhianne survived from the deadly disease.
Watch the full story in this episode of The Healthy Juan:
