Dr. Kırımlı stated that meningitis cases were not followed: Our children should not die

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Dr. Emrah Kırımlı, Head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Family Medicine Branch, said, “We are receiving news of meningitis cases in children from different sources. Unfortunately, we have also received news that two of our children have lost their lives so far. However, the Ministry of Health does not share information on how many meningitis cases there are in our country and how many people are receiving hospital treatment for this reason.”

Stating that since meningitis is a contagious and rapidly worsening disease, those around those who have already had the disease should be closely monitored, Kırımlı said, “Although the Ministry does not inform the public, we assume that the necessary information and follow-ups are made and appropriate measures are taken around the patients.”

'NOT ENOUGH FOLLOW-UP'

Recalling the viral outbreaks that lasted for a long time this year and affected many citizens, Kırımlı said, “We know that meningitis cases are frequently seen after these outbreaks. Since we have vaccinated against pneumococcus and haemophilus influenza as a country, meningitis caused by these diseases has almost completely ended. We are currently seeing meningococcal meningitis more frequently. When not monitored sufficiently, our children can lose their lives from these diseases. The real problem here is that our babies and children die from this disease that has a vaccine.”

Stating that in the past, meningitis vaccination was given free of charge to soldiers and today to those who go on Umrah and Hajj, Kırımlı said, “In this case, what we need to do is to give the meningitis vaccine to our babies and protect their lives. We prevented pneumococcal and haemophilus influenza meningitis and deaths with vaccination. We can achieve the same success for meningococcal meningitis. We have lost children due to vaccine-preventable diseases in the last 10 days. There is no economic or medical justification or explanation for this. We know that this vaccination program, which currently costs tens of thousands of liras, can be provided much more economically when the ministry includes this vaccine in the program.”