Patra authorities address meningitis concerns ahead of Carnival bash

Health authorities in the western port of Patra on Thursday sought to assure the public that a small cluster of meningitis cases at the city’s university is being dealt with and should not put off revelers hoping to join the country’s biggest Carnival festivities this weekend.

“Patra is a safe destination from a public health perspective,” regional health official Yiannis Karvelis said.

Karvelis added that around 600 students at the University of Patras would be receiving preventive drugs, while three have been vaccinated against the disease after coming into contact with the three confirmed cases.

In the meantime, a team from the National Organization of Public Health (EODY) has been dispatched to the university’s campus and dorms to look into the outbreak and inform students and staff members on how to protect themselves and others. Three of around 15 confirmed cases of meningitis reported in the past month and a half have been at the university.