The city-run Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) has temporarily closed its emergency room (ER) for cleaning after doctors attended to a suspected case of meningococcemia involving a 51-year-old woman from Palawan.

According to Makati City Information Chief Joey Salgado, the Pembo branch of OsMak has also shifted its ER operations at the outpatient department and limited its services among genuine emergency cases.

This transpired as Osmak’s chief-of-clinic, Dr. Perry Peralta, told Salgado that the patient, identified as Elsa Lopez, was demonstrating symptoms of the deadly disease before she died last Monday.

Meningococcemia is an acute and potentially life-threatening infection of the bloodstream that commonly leads to the inflammation of the blood vessels. It is caused by bacteria called Neisseria Meningitides, and is characterized by, among other symptoms, fever, vomiting and delirium, according to the Department of Health (DoH) website.

As Peralta told Salgado, Lopez was a visitor who temporarily resided with relatives in Brgy. Rizal before she was brought to OsMak the day she died. While Lopez’s body remains contained in a sealed casket at the hospital’s morgue, the patient’s relatives were given oral antibiotics to take to prevent being infected.

“They are still waiting for the results of the culture testing of the patient’s blood. But the hospital administrators chose to close the ER for cleanup even before receiving the test results,” Salgado said.

If Lopez’s body will be confirmed to have been infected with meningococcemia, Salgado said her family will be directed to bury or cremate her remains without holding a wake to prevent the spread of the disease.

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