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Meningococcal death: Boy, 16, attended Kerikeri High School

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 22 Oct 2018, 12:56PM
The teenager who died of meningococcal disease had been flown by helicopter from Motutapu Island to Auckland City Hospital.
The teenager who died of meningococcal disease had been flown by helicopter from Motutapu Island to Auckland City Hospital.

Meningococcal death: Boy, 16, attended Kerikeri High School

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Mon, 22 Oct 2018, 12:56PM

The school attended by the 16-year-old who died of meningococcal disease is preparing how to care for his teachers and friends.

The boy died at Auckland City Hospital on Saturday night after being flown there by helicopter from Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf suffering symptoms of suspected meningococcal disease.

Dr Denise Barnfather, of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service, told the Herald today that meningococcal disease had been confirmed as the cause of the teenager's death. The strain was not yet known. Samples had been sent to an ESR laboratory in Wellington for strain identification, which was expected to take a fortnight.

The boy attended Kerikeri High School in Northland.

Principal Elizabeth Forgie said she was at school today with colleagues preparing to contact students and staff.

"Our thoughts are with his family and his friends at this terrible time. We will be there to offer them all the support we can."

She added she had been advised by Northland District Health Board public health nurses that there was "no significant risk" of meningococcal disease to the wider school community.

Barnfather, a medical officer of health, said preventative antibiotic treatment had been given to nine close contacts of the teenager by last night, but she expected that number to rise.

The teenager was among about 190 people at a St John youth camp at Motutapu for people aged 8 to 18. The camp was scheduled to end today.

The public health service said it had not been notified of any further cases of meningococcal disease.

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