Spread of infectious diseases

While the COVID-19 pandemic might be behind us, there always lingers the threat of new infectious diseases spreading in the country. The latest is the warning from health authorities of the possible spread of meningococcal disease, a serious bacterial infection, which came to light after several inmates from the Boosa prison in Galle were confirmed to have contracted the disease in late August. 

At least two prisoners died of the infection while several others were treated and discharged. While early on there was hope that the disease would be contained to those infected in the Galle outbreak, the news that a 49-year-old man residing in the Ja-Ela area who is employed at an office in Ratmalana has sent alarm bells ringing among health authorities and raises the possibility of it spreading among the public.

Following confirmation that the man was indeed infected with meningococcal disease, about 30 of his close contacts were tested at his workplace and provided with antibiotics as a precautionary measure but the fear is that there may be others who could have been infected due to contact with him. The meningococcal bacteria are spread by close contact with an infected person through sharing of respiratory and throat secretions such as saliva or spit and early detection and treatment is crucial to save lives.

The spread of such illnesses in Sri Lanka at a time when the country’s health services are facing many challenges is indeed alarming and the obvious concern being that there would be inadequate stocks of the necessary medicines to treat patients.

The vaccines for Meningococcal disease are in high demand as Sri Lankans travelling for the Haj pilgrims to West Asia as well as students leaving or several countries such as the USA, UK and Australia are among those who need to take it.

Already the country is grappling with medicine shortages. The problem in the health sector has been compounded by the impact of substandard medicines which in the past few months, have been blamed for several deaths as well as serious side effects in some patients. The spread of any kind of new infections such as meningococcal bacteria could be extremely dangerous to the public with no assurance that the necessary medicine to treat the disease will be available in adequate supply.

Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who is largely blamed for the crisis in the health sector faces a no-confidence motion in Parliament next week where more details of the existing shortage of medicine as well as alleged corrupt practices in medicine imports, will be revealed. While such exposure is welcome, the problems people face in the country where the health sector is connected, is far bigger than any political battle. Access to proper health facilities is a basic human right and if citizens are denied that the country could see many more deaths that could be prevented if the health services are functioning well.

In the meantime, the public has a role to play in preventing the spread of dangerous illnesses. Some of the preventative measures that people adopted eagerly after the outbreak of the coronavirus such as wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining distance, all have been forgotten by the majority by now. However, these are common sense measures that can keep infections at bay and help the prevention of another dangerous disease spreading in the country. Prevention is certainly better than cure, where diseases such as meningococcal bacteria are concerned, as it is life threatening.