Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.
Three children affected at a school in La Frontera
The General Directorate of Public Health at the Canary Islands Health Service has notified an outbreak of viral meningitis caused by enterovirus on the island of El Hierro, with three associated cases, all in children aged three, six and seven who attend a school in the municipality of La Frontera.
The health authority states that the first case in this outbreak began showing symptoms at the start of October, while the most recently confirmed case began in the middle of this month. All three affected youngsters have required hospital admission, although all of them have experienced a favourable clinical course: the first two cases have already been discharged, while the third child remains in hospital and is progressing well.
Protocol activated and contacts monitored
The health authority indicates that, from the moment the first confirmed case became known, Public Health activated the established protocol for these situations, carried out monitoring of possible contacts of the confirmed cases and alerted healthcare professionals in the area so that they could detect symptoms compatible with this infection in other people at an early stage.
What viral meningitis involves
Viral meningitis appears sporadically or as an epidemic disease and, in general, recovery is complete and serious symptoms are rarely experienced. Approximately 90% of cases of viral meningitis are caused by the enterovirus family. It manifests with sudden-onset fever, severe headache and neck stiffness, and nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and pharyngitis may also appear. Symptoms usually last between 10 and 14 days.
In addition, most enterovirus infections are asymptomatic or produce a non-specific febrile illness, often with mild and short-lived respiratory symptoms. The health authority notes that enteroviruses have an exclusively human reservoir and that transmission occurs mostly from person to person through faecal-oral contact. Infected people without symptoms are often the source of infection, and although the incubation period is difficult to estimate because the source is usually an asymptomatic case, it is reckoned to be between two days and two weeks, with a median of three to five days.
Handwashing with soap and water, not alcohol gel
The main preventive measure is stepping up cleaning and hygiene habits in the family, school or institutional setting. The health authority recommends washing hands with soap and water and reminds the public that enteroviruses are “naked” viruses, resistant to alcohol, so alcohol-based hand gel should not replace washing. At school, washing with soap and water will be compulsory before break time and before lunch and after using the toilet, and at home it should be done frequently, before eating and after going to the toilet.
It also advises that all toilets should have toilet paper, running water, soap and disposable towels. School cleaning staff, and families at home, should use diluted household bleach on contact surfaces such as tables, door handles, toys and toilets, and cleaning of bathrooms should be intensified. Anyone caring for a child should always wash their hands after cleaning up faeces or mucus, and nasal and throat secretions should be cleaned with disposable tissues.
At school, disposable cups will be used for the youngest children to prevent them from drinking by sucking on the tap, and cups, cutlery and bottles must not be shared. In the infant classes, cleaning of objects that children may put in their mouths will be stepped up. The same recommendations should be followed in homes, so children should be prevented from using the same utensils. Affected children will remain at home until their paediatrician advises otherwise.
Recommendations for schools and families
The General Directorate of Public Health has also issued a series of specific recommendations to prevent contagion and strengthen surveillance for possible symptoms in the school setting. The health authority states that, since person-to-person faecal-oral transmission through a chain of asymptomatic children who are healthy carriers is considered the probable cause of the outbreak, it recommends assessing the possibility of introducing virtual teaching at the educational levels of the affected six- and seven-year-olds, since contact with the three-year-old child has passed the incubation period without giving rise to any secondary case among children of that age.
Parents and guardians of minors living in the municipality are also urged to avoid common places where other children may be present, in order to prevent contagion.
What’s happening in the Canaries – straight to your phone
News, weather alerts and practical updates – direct from the islands, in English. We live here and know what’s going on – before the international media catch up. Everything lands on our WhatsApp channel – no middlemen, no algorithm. Curated for families, expats and travelers.
How to apply for public housing in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands tourism chief offers dialogue on residentialisation
Canary Islands office helps small councils ditch the peseta
Two tonnes of illegal tropical fruit seized at Tenerife port
Canary Islands approves new €1.6bn development fund
Mogán mayor says her €65,000 salary is too low
Abandoned cars in Canary Islands: hundreds left to rot
Work resumes on 27 affordable rental homes in Las Palmas
Los Realejos residents fight on against propane gas plant
