A middle-aged West Australian is recovering in hospital with the same strain of meningococcal disease that caused the death of a teenager while he was holidaying in Tasmania on the weekend.
The Health Department says the cases serve as a reminder of the increased risk of contracting the diseases during winter, which is on the rise since falling to a low of 16 cases in 2013.
Meningococcal causes death in five to 10 per cent of cases and diagnoses of the W strain have increased in most states over the past two to three years, with Tasmania, NSW, Queensland, Victoria and WA running free vaccination programs for people aged 15 to 19 in 2017 and 2018.
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