Sixth meningococcal case in Qld

An adult has become the sixth person in Queensland to be diagnosed with the potentially deadly meningococcal disease in the past week.

Queensland Health confirmed on Friday that a person in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, was the latest to fall ill.

It comes after a boy was admitted to Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital with the disease on December 31.

The following day three children from the same family were also admitted to the same hospital.

Those children were not linked to the initial child's case and were believed to have become ill after an extended family gathering over the holidays.

A six-year-old boy was diagnosed on Thursday and is in a stable condition in Cairns Hospital.

Meningococcal is a severe but uncommon infection that occurs when meningococcal bacteria invade the body from the throat or nose.

Close and prolonged contact with a person who has the bacteria in their nose or throat is usually needed for the bacteria to spread to others.

Symptoms in young children include fever, refusal to feed, irritability, grunting or moaning, extreme tiredness or floppiness, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea, turning away from light, convulsions, and a rash of red or purple pinprick spots or larger bruises.