Pernambuco increased the number of reported cases of meningococcal disease by 40% | Pernambuco

During the period, the number of deaths from the disease tripled: from one to three deaths. Throughout the year 2017, two people died of the disease. Also according to SES, throughout the last year, the general number of reported cases of the disease has reached 29, with 17 confirmations.

According to SES Director of Surgical Disease Prevention, Ana Antunes, there has been a decrease in the number of the disease since 2014, the year that there were 44 confirmations. 2015 had 24 confirmed cases and 2016, 32.

According to Ana, the behavior of meningococcal disease is difficult to predict, in Pernambuco, because of the climate.

"This disease has a very atypical behavior, because in cold places it has a marked seasonality, but here we do not have this differentiation so clear, then, it does not have a similar behavior each Despite the increase in the first half, we could be surprised by a decline in the rest of the year, for example, "says Ana.

According to Ana, the situation in the first half of 2018 does not require more care than routine prevention, since cases are scattered throughout the state.In the case of deaths, one of the deaths occurred in Serra Talhada, in the Sertão, in February, the second one was held in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, in the Grand Recife, and the third, in Recife, in June

"The disease was increasing and there has been a decline since the introduction of the vaccine, which is available for free through the Unified Health System, n We are rebadured because there is not a high concentration of cases in the same city. This is a disease treated as important and all research is done carefully because there is a high case fatality rate, "said Ana.

Meningococcal C vaccine is available for adolescents between 11 and 14. Immunization is done in three doses.