GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - After a recent outbreak of enteroviral meningitis in the Garden Route, the number of people being treated has now decreased.
According to Nadia Ferreira, communications officer speaking on behalf of health minister Nomafrench Mbombo, only three people have been treated for the disease in George in the period 27 February to 6 March. Ferreira says about 71 patients were treated for the disease since 1 February, and many of those cases were children aged under 14.
This not being the bacterial form, known as meningococcal meningitis, that poses a serious threat, no deaths and no cases with serious complications have been reported to date.
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid that is found in the spinal cord and that surrounds the brain. It is usually caused by an infection with a virus or a bacterium (micro-organism).
Enteroviruses are the most common cause of viral meningitis worldwide.
It is a common virus that can enter the body through the mouth and travel to the brain and surrounding tissues.
It is a mild illness and the majority of ill people will recover within a week (7 to 10 days).
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