Egypt's Health Ministry on Sunday dismissed social media reports claiming four siblings died simultaneously from meningitis, saying the claims are medically implausible and scientifically unfounded. In an official statement, the ministry stressed there is no evidence of a meningitis outbreak in the country and reaffirmed the success of its vaccination and disease surveillance programmes in keeping the bacterial form of the illness under control. Meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or non-infectious factors such as trauma or certain medications, the ministry said. Egypt has recorded no epidemic cases of bacterial meningitis types A or C among school students since 2016, it added, noting that the infection rate has fallen to 0.02 cases per 100,000 people since a nationwide vaccination campaign began in 1989. Authorities provide 6.5 million doses of the A\&C vaccine annually to students in first grade across all education levels, and an additional 600,000 doses of the quadrivalent vaccine to travelers heading to high-risk countries or performing Hajj and Umrah. Vaccines for other forms of meningitis, including Haemophilus influenzae and tuberculous meningitis, are also part of the national immunisation programme. The ministry said the rumours surrounding the death of four siblings are not only inaccurate but contradict basic medical science. "There is no medical evidence supporting the simultaneous death of multiple people from infectious diseases," it said, adding that such timing suggests the need to investigate non-infectious causes such as chemical or food poisoning. It also highlighted Egypt's two-tier meningitis surveillance system, combining real-time case tracking from all health facilities with lab testing of cerebrospinal fluid samples using WHO-accredited PCR technology. The ministry urged the public to rely on official health sources and avoid spreading unverified medical claims. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
