Majority of meningitis cases were in adults

The majority of bacterial meningitis cases in the past three years occurred in adults despite the illness often being associated with young children, Times of Malta has learnt. Data on the number of bacterial meningitis cases since 2016, supplied to Times of Malta by the Health Ministry, show that of the 34 cases reported to the authorities, 21 involved patients over the age of 18. There were 11 patients who were younger than five years of age when they contracted the illness and another two aged between six and 17. Read: What you can do to prevent meningitis Three patients died of the illness in the three years under review – a four-year-old boy earlier this month, a 13-month-old baby in 2017 and a 19-year-old in 2016. Information on the less-serious viral meningitis was not supplied by the ministry. Times of Malta sought the information following reports of children being rushed to hospital with the illness in recent weeks, including the boy who died of a form of the illness the authorities said was “very rare”. Some days later, a new-born baby was admitted to Mater Dei Hospital after developing signs of the illness. According to the health authorities, meningitis could be...