Tondo hospital ER shuttered over suspected meningococcemia case

The emergency room of the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) in Manila's Tondo district will be closed to the public until 8 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23  after the death of a patient with suspected meningococcemia, the city government said Monday.

In an advisory, the Manila Public Information Office (PIO) explained that the emergency room would be decontaminated during the closure.

"This is to make way for the ER's terminal cleaning and disinfection due to a suspected Meningococcemia case who died earlier in the said area," read the social media post.

The GABMMC had also shuttered its emergency room in 2019 due to a reported meningococcemia case.

Symptoms of the disease included fever, cough, sore throat, rashes, bruises, stiff neck, convulsions, and vomiting.

According to the Department of Health's 2019 statement, the illness did not "spread as easily as colds or influenza" because the bacteria causing the disease could not survive outside the human host. — DVM, GMA News