Editorial: Confusion heightens virus threat
Tuesday November 10 2009
THE news that a five-year-old girl is critically ill in a coma in a Dublin hospital with meningitis is every parent's worst nightmare.
Little Ruby Ayoub was apparently first wrongly diagnosed with the H1N1 or swine flu virus in a doctor's surgery and it was not spotted that she was suffering from another potentially deadly virus.
Her parents say that crucial hours passed before doctors told them to take her to hospital after a second visit. She has been fighting for her life ever since.
The little girl's case highlights the dangers as swine flu continues its inexorable march, with tens of thousands being infected every week.
In August, the Meningitis Research Foundation highlighted the possibility of mistakes as bacterial meningitis can be easily confused with swine flu.
The viruses have similar symptoms, including quick onset of fever, headache, drowsiness and vomiting, so everyone needs to be alert.
