School in Ho Chi Minh City gives antibiotics after meningitis cases
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More than 2,000 students, teachers, and staff at Hai Ba Trung Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, received preventative antibiotics after health officials identified four cases of Group B meningococcal disease.
The outbreak began with a 12-year-old male student who died from the infection. Three other students are receiving treatment at the Tropical Diseases Hospital and are in stable condition.
Following the initial cases, authorities first provided antibiotics to 177 people who had been in close contact with the infected students, and then expanded the preventative measure to the entire school population. Experts from the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, the Tropical Diseases Hospital, Children’s Hospital 1, and the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control assessed the school’s response, which included cleaning, disinfection, and contact tracing.
The antibiotics aim to eliminate the bacteria residing in the noses and throats of close contacts, even those without symptoms, reducing the risk of further infection. Health officials and school administrators decided not to switch to online learning, and parents were encouraged to continue sending their children to school while monitoring their health. The preventative measures are not a substitute for vaccination or continued health monitoring.
