Meningitis - Russia (Khabarovsk)(03)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

[1]
Source: Itar-Tass [edited]
< http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10787337&PageNum=0>

Tens of new meningitis cases registered daily in Russian region
-----------------------------------------------
About 20 new serous viral meningitis cases have been registered daily
in the Khabarovsk Territory this week.

The regional government's press service told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday
[13 Sep 2006] that the number of affected people had increased to
1490 since the beginning of the disease outbreak. About 400 have been
hospitalized with enterovirus meningitis. Specialists of the
territorial Health Department described the situation as tense. New
cases have been registered in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and 3 adjacent areas.

Causes of the virus spread are bathing in the Amur river and open
reservoirs, contact and aerial infection transmission. Tests revealed
enterovirus ECHO-6, hepatitis A virus and rotaviruses in water
samples from the Amur and in sewage.

Sanitarians say the viral meningitis rate had been declining as a
result of anti-epidemic measures.

There have been no cluster cases in children's day stay centers.

Long-term observation has shown that outbreaks of serous viral
meningitis continue for 14 weeks. The morbidity situation is expected
to return to normal in late September 2006. The school year has not
begun for 1st to 8th graders so far. Children under 14 years are
forbidden to attend all mass functions to avoid exposure to crowds.

******
[2]
Source: IA Regnum, 11 Sep 2006 [translated from Russian by Corresp.ARS, edited]
<http://www.regnum.ru/news/702644.html>

New cases of serous-viral meningitis are registered in Khabarovsk Area
-----------------------------------------------
14 new cases of serous-viral meningitis have been registered in the
Khabarovsk Region during the past few days, of which there were 7
cases in Komsomolsk on Amur, and some cases in Khabarovsk and
Nanayskiy, Komsomolskiy, Solnechniy, Vaninskiy, and in the
Sovieto-Havanskiy regions. This information was given to IA Regnum by
the Agency of Rospotrebnadzor in the Khabarovsk Area. Currently, 434
patients are in the hospitals of the Khabarovsk Area, including 411
cases with confirmed diagnosis of serous-viral meningitis.
Serous-viral meningitis has been diagnosed in 958 cases from 1 Jul
to 10 Sep 2006.


Historically, echoviruses 6, 9, 11, 19, and 30 have been associated
with outbreaks of aseptic (serous) meningitis, accompanied by a rash
in the case of echoviruses 6 and 9. Fortunately, recovery is usually
complete within a few weeks, with risk of neurological complications
only in the very young.

In the current ICTV classification of viruses, ECHO-6 and ECHO-30 are
designated Human echovirus 6 and Human echovirus 30 and ranked as
serologically distinct members of the virus species _Human
enterovirus B_.