V.

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDY AND LITERATURE

A number of related articles were used by the researchers to gain further

understanding of the topic being studied.

Local

The DOH said that meningococcemia is a rare, but very serious illness caused by a

bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis. Some of its signs and symptoms include cough,

headache, sore throat, fever, chills, malaise, nausea, vomiting and skin rashes.

This disease can quickly progress and manifest with lethargy, difficulty of

breathing, neck stiffness, sensitivity to light, seizures, hemorrhagic eruptions, purpuric and

petechial skin lesions, and hypotension. It is spread from person-to-person through the

exchange of respiratory and throat secretions from coughing, kissing, or sharing of utensils.

(De Vera, 2019)

Meningococcemia is a deadly but highly preventable disease. The public should

practice good personal hygiene such as regular handwashing, and covering of mouth and

nose when coughing or sneezing to prevent the spread of this disease. (Vergeire,2019)

Based on the latest available data from the DOH, a total of 130 Meningococcal

cases were reported nationwide from January 1 to June 29, 2019. Most of the cases reported

(18%) were from NCR, followed by Region IV-A or CALABARZON with 16%. There

was a total of 68 reported deaths among the reported Meningococcal diseases cases.

There have been several outbreaks of meningococcal disease in the Philippines. In

1988, 36 cases were reported in Mindanao. Ten cases were reported the following year in

Negros Occidental. From 2002 to 2004, a total of 101 patients with meningococcal disease

were confined in San Lazaro Hospital. Twenty-nine cases were reported in the Cordillera

Administrative Region (CAR) in 1993, a single case in 1995, two in 1998, and 36 in 2004.

In February 2005, a meningococcal disease outbreak affecting a total of 376 patients

occurred in CAR. Almost half of the patients were 5 years of age and younger. About a

third of the patients died. (Fabay, 2010)

International

The symptoms of meningococcal meningitis as opposed to meningococcal septic

shock are those of meningitis in general. The progression of the disease is much slower

than in the case of sepsis, and mortality and morbidity are accordingly different. The

exception is the rare presence of a meningoencephalitis, with raised intracranial pressure

and rapidly deteriorating neurologic findings sometimes leading to coning. The recognition

of a meningococcal sepsis by parents, primary care physicians, and junior hospital doctors

is of extreme importance but remains difficult. A previous study identified a lack of

awareness among health professionals in recognizing meningococcal purpura. The cardinal

feature of a meningococcal sepsis is the purpuric rash, but the symptoms are, in the

beginning of the disease, nonspecific and are difficult to discriminate from the flu. Fever,

malaise, muscle ache, and vomiting will be described. The rash is a late sign of the disease

and consists in the beginning of erythema, as can be seen in many innocent viral diseases

of infancy, but later, this changes to petechiae and purpura. It is characterized by dermal

microvascular thrombosis and perivascular hemorrhage. (Hazelzet, 2005)