Cologne, Germany - Though meningococcal disease is extremely rare, it must be treated quickly because the bacteria which cause the infection spread rapidly and it can prove fatal, warned the Cologne-based German Association of Paediatricians (BVKJ).

Meningococci bacteria can cause meningitis (meningococcal meningitis), which is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord or septicaemia, an infection of the bloodstream. It is essential that an infected person be treated with antibiotics as soon as possible. Parents who suspect their child is infected should seek medical help immediately.

Symptoms of meningococcal disease include sensitivity to light, noise and touch; vomiting, headache, aching joints, high fever, confusion and a stiff neck.

"When the child bends the neck forward, the pain gets worse," noted BVKJ spokesman Ulrich Fegeler.

"Other typical signs are red-purple spots on the skin that do not disappear when you press a glass on them, and pain in the legs that makes standing and walking difficult," Fegeler said. The symptoms do not always appear together.

The disease strikes mainly older people, children under age 5 and teenagers. Infections are generally most common in the spring.

The smaller the children, the vaguer the symptoms. Predominant signs of the disease in newborns and small infants may be stomach-ache, diarrhoea or a refusal to eat. Other possible warning signals are restlessness, sleepiness, shrill crying, pale or spotted skin, bluish discolouration around the mouth, and cold hands and feet although the body is hot.

There are several subgroups of meningococci, said Fegeler.

"Infections are caused mainly by B meningococci," he said, adding that the C group was responsible for the most fatalities and serious complications.

"Only for this serogroup is there a vaccine, which has been recommended since July 2006 for all children at age 2 by the Standing Commission on Vaccination at the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute," Fegeler said.

He recommended immunization for older children and adolescents as well. (dpa)