The ACT's Chief Health Officer, Dr Shirley Bowen, today urged doctors and parents to be on the alert for symptoms of meningococcal disease as the peak season for the disease approaches. An increase in the number of cases of meningococcal disease generally occurs each year in late winter and early spring.
Meningococcal disease is an uncommon but serious disease.
Young children and adolescents are most at risk, although adults occasionally develop the infection. Both conditions are relatively rare with an average of 9 cases occurring in the ACT each year. There have been no cases reported so far this year in the ACT although nationally cases are rising. The incubation period for the disease is 2 to 10 days. Once the infected person has started on antibiotics they are only infectious for another 24 hours.