by Selwyn Manning -

Auckland has seen an upsurge of the deadly meningicoccal disease with 22 cases listed since the beginning of July. This compares to 14 cases for Auckland for the same time last year.

The potentially fatal disease has caused Auckland Healthcare officers to issue a warning to people to watch out for symptoms. Severe headaches, a stiff neck, flu-like symptoms, and skin rashes can all indicate meningitis.

This weekend a 14-year-old girl died in Whangarei after contracting the disease. Her school mates are receiving antibiotics as a precautionary measure against bacterial infection.

Dr Chris Bullen, from Auckland Healthcare, says communities in Northland, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty have been hit particularly hard.

Health authorities are preparing for the worst. Dr Bullen says nationally the number of meningitis cases for this year could end up matching 1997's record level.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>