A five-year-old girl has died after a suspected case of meningitis on the Costa del Sol.

Health authorities still working to confirm the exact cause and type of infection.

The child, who lives in Velez-Malaga, had initially been treated at local healthcare centres in the Axarquia before being transferred to the Hospital Materno Infantil de Malaga, where she passed away on Monday.

Medical teams are carrying out further tests to determine the origin of the illness and whether it was bacterial or viral – a key factor in understanding both severity and potential risk to others.

Health officials have already activated precautionary protocols, including preventive treatment for those who had close contact with the girl.

Family members, classmates and others in her immediate environment have been contacted as part of these efforts to reduce any risk of transmission.

Authorities have stressed that these measures are standard procedure in suspected meningitis cases while investigations continue.

It comes less than a month after a 17-year-old girl died from meningitis in Alicante.

The youngster, named Gemma, had already been feeling unwell days earlier but believed it to be a cold.

Meningitis is typically spread through respiratory secretions such as coughing, sneezing or close contact.

Symptoms can include fever, headaches, vomiting and skin rashes, and in more advanced stages, neck stiffness or behavioural changes.

Doctors stress that vaccination is the most effective form of prevention, while close contacts are being given preventative antibiotics and monitored closely.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.