Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size.

On January 23, 11-year-old Aline Asfour received her third-grade graduation certificate with honors, scoring in the 98th percentile and ranking first in her class. Her family celebrated her academic achievement and excellence. Two days later, Aline began feeling unwell. She started vomiting repeatedly and suffered from severe diarrhea. At first, her family believed she was experiencing a common cold due to the cold weather and living in displacement tents.

That same night, Aline’s temperature rose sharply, and the vomiting continued. By 1:30 a.m., her family called for an ambulance. A few days later, Aline was dead, infected with a deadly case of meningitis.

Aline is the first and only child in the Gaza Strip to have died from bacterial meningitis as of the time of writing. According to health officials in Gaza, at least 15 cases of the disease have been recorded so far, with expectations that the outbreak will worsen given the dire medical and living conditions faced by displaced civilians in the Strip.

Bacterial meningitis is often contracted from feces or respiratory droplets, health officials in Gaza say, making living conditions in displacement camps an ideal environment for spreading the illness.

Health officials who spoke to Mondoweiss say that the bacterial infection is far more dangerous than its comparatively mild viral equivalent, and can often be deadly. The disease affects the membranes surrounding the brain, as well as the cerebrospinal fluid that circulates in the brain’s ventricles.

When Aline first fell ill, she was rushed from the Mawasi area of Khan Younis to Nasser Medical Complex, but doctors at first only treated her symptoms, giving her an NSAID injection.

“No one really knew what was happening with her,” her father, Hamouda Asfour, told Mondoweiss, saying that they were sent on their way after she received the injection.

Her father then carried her on foot for about 200 meters away from the hospital, deciding to stay the night at a nearby school where relatives were........

© Truthout