HSE warning as baby dies from suspected case of meningitis

A 14-MONTH-OLD baby from Co Monaghan has died after what the HSE says is a suspected case of meningitis.

The child, Aaron Hagan, from Threemilehouse, died in Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin on Tuesday after he was taken ill on Monday. Neighbours say his parents, Stephen and Louise, who live at Gortnana, Threemilehouse, are “devastated at the loss of baby Aaron”.

The Hagan family suffered another tragedy last October when Kieran Hagan, an uncle of Aaron’s, was one of five young men from Threemilehouse who died in a car crash.

In a statement, the HSE said it had been notified that the child had died from suspected meningococcal disease and that investigations and follow-up measures are being taken by public health doctors.

The HSE urged parents, especially those with small children, to be aware of the symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia infection.

“These include fever, stomach muscle or joint pain, drowsiness, headache, stiff neck, dislike of bright lights, vomiting, rapid breathing, cold hands and feet and a rash which characteristically does not fade when a glass is pressed against the skin,” the HSE said.

“In addition to these symptoms, small babies may have a tense or bulging fontanelle, [soft spots on a newborn skull] blotching or pale skin, refusal to feed, fretfulness or shrill cry and body stiffness or floppiness.”

The HSE urged people to seek medical help immediately if concerned about symptoms in an adult or child. Apart from meningococcal meningitis the next most common form of bacterial meningitis is pneumococcal meningitis.

Since the MenC vaccine was introduced in 2000, there has been a decline in the number of bacterial meningitis each year.