Meningococcal cases in Auckland

The disease is spread by kissing and other methods of "sharing spit". Photo / Getty.

Four people in Auckland have caught meningococcal disease recently and all were seriously ill, according to the latest available statistics.

Nationally, 15 cases were reported in August and 38 so far this year, says the latest disease surveillance report from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR). All 15 patients were admitted to hospital and one died.

In August, three of the patients had the strain of the bacterial disease that caused an extended epidemic and was the target of a national campaign to vaccinate children.

The greatest number of cases in August was in the Waitemata health district, where there were three patients. There were two cases each in Taranaki, Hawkes Bay and Capital and Coast health districts; and one each in Northland, Counties Manukau, Wairarapa, Canterbury, South Canterbury and Southern.

The Manawatu Standard reports that there have been two recent cases of meningococcal disease in people aged under 20 in the MidCentral health district. One died. There was no apparent connection between the cases, medical officer of health Dr Rob Weir told the paper.

Last year 46 cases of meningococcal disease were reported nationally.

"[In 2013] 68 cases of meningococcal disease were notified," ESR says in a report on trends in the disease. " This equates to a notification rate of 1.5 per 100 000 population, the lowest rate of meningococcal disease in New Zealand in more than two decades."

That is comparable to the rate in the years leading up to the start of the 1993-2006 epidemic in which the greatest annual number of cases - 650 confirmed and probable cases - was in 2001.

Meningococcal disease can be readily treated with antibiotics if it is detected early although its initial symptoms are easily mistaken for viral influenza.

Symptoms can include a high fever, headache, vomiting or (in infants) refusal of feeds, sleepiness, a stiff neck and dislike of or sensitivity to bright lights, joint and muscle pains and a rash.

The bacteria, spread by kissing, coughing and other methods of "sharing spit" , can lead to meningitis and septicaemia, the worst effects of which can include brain damage, limb amputations and death.