WA patient dies from meningococcal

An elderly West Australian has died from a previously-uncommon strain of meningococcal, the state's first death from the disease in 2017.

An elderly person has died from meningococcal disease in Western Australia, the first fatal case in the state this year.

The Department of Health has not disclosed any details about the person due to patient confidentiality, but says they succumbed to the serogroup W strain, which has been more common in some parts of Australia, including in WA, over the past three years.

Of the 23 cases reported in WA in 2016, 14 were serogroup W, up from the long term average of around one per year.