Boy dies of meningitis in Russia's North Ossetia
VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia. July 20 (Interfax) - A boy has died of meningitis in Russia's North Ossetia republic, and two other children who have been diagnosed with meningitis are at local hospitals, the North Ossetian health minister said on Saturday.
"Unfortunately, the boy died because medical assistance for him was requested too late. At the moment, 20 children who are suspected cases of meningitis have been hospitalized in the republic. So far they have symptoms of ARVI [acute respiratory viral infection], and definitively they will be diagnosed on Monday," the minister, Vladimir Selivanov, told Interfax.
Selivanov said all 20 children had arrived from the Mayak sanatorium in Kabardino-Balkaria, another republic in Russia's North Caucasus, on Friday. He said that altogether there were 350 children who were feared to have contracted meningitis, and that they were all under medical surveillance.
"There's no reason for panic, the situation has practically been localized and is under strict control from specialized authorities," the minister said. There would be quarantine measures in North Ossetia for the next 20 days.
