Baby dies of bacterial meningitis in Ho Chi Minh City

A five-month-old child died in Ho Chi Minh City late last month, the first victim of bacterial meningitis in the city this year.

The HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases said in a statement Wednesday that the baby girl was admitted with high fever and pale skin with blood spots. She died within a few hours and was diagnosed with meningitis caused by the Neisseria meningitis bacterium.

The city’s preventive health department has taken measures to control the spread of the disease in her neighborhood in District 11.

Bacterial meningitis is transmitted through saliva and respiratory droplets and can be fatal within the first day of infection. The disease is most common between six months and three years of age and between 14 and 20.

Typical symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting.

In Vietnam, children are vaccinated against bacterial meningitis from two years.