A NINE-MONTH-OLD baby boy has died from meningitis in Suffolk, health bosses have revealed.

Lizzie Parry

A NINE-MONTH-OLD baby boy has died from meningitis in Suffolk, health bosses have revealed.

Now health workers are trying to trace individuals who may have had close contact with the baby from Kesgrave, near Ipswich.

An inquiry is being led by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) following the death of the baby boy from the meningococcal disease in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Health Protection Unit (HPU) has been working with the local primary care trust, NHS Suffolk, to identify individuals who may have had close contact with the boy.

Antibiotics have been offered to those people who were in close contact with the baby in order to limit the potential for any further cases of the life-threatening disease.

Dr Torbjorn Sundkvist, from the HPU, said at the moment they were not aware of any further cases of meningitis in the county.

“This is an isolated case and at present we are not aware of any other cases of illnesses linked to this patient,” he said.

“Meningitis does not spread easily from one person to another. However, we do tend to see an increase in meningococcal infection at this time of year and because of the seriousness of the illness, it's important people everywhere, especially parents of young children, are aware of the signs and symptoms.”

Paramedics were called to a house in Kesgrave at around 5am on Sunday morning and the baby was taken to Ipswich Hospital. However, he suffered a paediatric arrest and later died.

It has since emerged the child, known as Taylor, had been taken to the Riverside Clinic in Landseer Road late on Saturday for a suspected illness.

Suffolk police said the death is unexplained but are not treating it as suspicious. They are now in contact with the coroner's office.

Take Care Now (TCN), who provide the GP out of hours service for the Riverside Clinic, said the nine-month-old baby had been seen at the Riverside Clinic on Saturday.

Dr James Kennedy, TCN medical director, said: “We can confirm that a nine-month-old baby was seen by a doctor at the Riverside Clinic late on Saturday afternoon.

“We are currently investigating the clinical aspects of the baby's illness. Our thoughts are with the baby's parents at this difficult time.”

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Trust said: “In the early hours of Sunday morning, 5am, we had a call and conveyed a child to Ipswich Hospital.

“He had a paediatric arrest.”