Expert links Queensland’s surge in meningococcal cases to rise in influenza

Experts have revealed the cause of a worrying 85 per cent surge in cases of deadly meningococcal in Queensland compared to the same period in 2021. WHAT YOU NEED TO LOOK FOR

Meningococcal cases in Queensland have more than doubled this year, compared with the same time last year, with experts saying the rise is likely linked to damage done by the influenza virus.

This year to October 16, there have been 26 cases statewide of the deadly disease, which is up from just 10 cases in the same period last year.

There’s also been 85 per cent more cases in the first 10 months of the year than the whole of 2021 when just 14 cases were reported.

Infectious diseases expert Dr Robert Booy said the surge in cases was a concern in the medical industry with Australia heading towards 100 cases in total this year.

“Most of them have been Group B, which has a 5-10 per cent death rate. In comparison, Covid-19 has just 1 per cent death rate,” he said.

Amy Birds’ then three-year-old daughter Aroha contracted meningococcal in 2020. Picture: Supplied.

The reason for the surge had been linked to the prevalence of viruses, such as Covid and influenza, due to reopened borders and the return of superspreader events, Dr Booy said.

“Once you’ve had influenza it can damage your throat and a germ called the meningococcus bacteria, which usually sits quietly and does no harm, suddenly can invade ­because of the damage done,” he said.

“The meningococcal invades and goes into the blood and into the brain and causes either blood poisoning or ­meningitis or both.”

Earlier this year, the popular Byron Bay music festival Splendour in the Grass reported three cases of meningococcal, including a man in his 40s, who subsequently died

Dr Booy said while crowding played a big part in the spread, each of those cases were unrelated to each other and were found to be multiple chains of transmission.

“The bug spreads well between intimate kissing, it’s not through sex. If you’ve got one or more instances of that, it becomes a risk factor for spreading the bacteria,” he said.

While early symptoms can start off resembling an everyday cold, including a fever, runny nose and lethargy, Dr Booy said the next 12 hours was when the specific symptoms would develop.

“There’s colour in your hands and feet and they begin to feel cold. You get a pinprick purple rash where if you press it against clear glass the colour doesn’t go away,” he said.

“This is because there’s bleeding in the skin because the vessels are damaged by the blood poisoning.”

For Victoria Point mum Amy Birds, the severity of the disease was made especially clear when her then three-year-old daughter Aroha contracted it back in 2020.

“The whole thing was surreal. I didn’t know what it was, I just knew it was bad because we had doctors coming in and wanted to look at what it looked like in person because they’d never seen it before,” she said.

The alarm bells started when Aroha began feeling sick while on a family holiday, before she started vomiting and breaking out in a rash.

“I thought it was just another viral infection because of the symptoms,” she said.

But after seeing the rash, Ms Birds rushed her daughter to the hospital where she spent time in the intensive care unit and was treated for a week before being sent home.

“I think because I did take her straight to the hospital and on top of the doctors just being so on top of it all, that’s why she’s alive today,” she said.