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2nd Child Dies of Meningitis in Rostov Region

Another child has died of meningitis in the Rostov-on-Don region, but medical experts say the child's death is not connected to last week's outbreak in the city's Teremok kindergarten.

The child was admitted to the hospital on Thursday at 1:40 p.m., and despite resuscitative measures, passed away two hours later, the Investigative Committee said.

Investigators are currently examining the body and interviewing the child's parents and carers to obtain the necessary information about the circumstances of the incident, Interfax reported.

The region's Health Minister Tatyana Bykovskaya told reporters that the 2-year-old's death is not related to the outbreak of a respiratory infection, in some cases complicated by meningitis, in the Teremok kindergarten.

Doctors have already diagnosed the dangerous disease in 34 children who attend the kindergarten.

Sixty-seven children remain hospitalized, while 42 children are being treated at home. One preschooler died had already died despite receiving medical treatment.

"It's a different clinical case. The child was hospitalized with a diagnosis of fulminant meningococcal infection. Once again I would like to note that the child's death can not be attributed to the number of cases of an enterovirus infection," the minister said.

The Investigative Committee has also confirmed that currently there is no evidence that the last case is related to the meningitis outbreak in the Teremok kindergarten.

Earlier, children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov wrote on his Twitter blog that the virus may have come from a clothing market where many of the children's parents work together with immigrants from Vietnam, China and other Asian countries.

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