Third case of Neisseria meningitides diagnosed in Ohio

ALLIANCE, Ohio (CNN) -- A third case of Neisseria meningitides was diagnosed in this northeastern Ohio Saturday, after two teenagers died of the bacterial infection, and health authorities have ordered most of the city's residents to undergo a preventive antibiotic treatment.

Neisseria meningitides is a strain of bacteria that can cause meningitis, an infection of the brain and spinal cord. The first student, who died May 23 of meningitis, was a 15-year-old boy. The other student, a 16-year-old girl, died Monday of meningococcemia, an infection that has a different effect on the body and is more dangerous than meningitis.

Doctors determined that the third case, that of an 18-year-old girl, is caused by the same bacteria. She is listed in serious condition at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, a nursing supervisor said.

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Dr. Mark Hostettler, the director of Alliance Community Hospital, said he expected as many as 20,000 to 25,000 people -- the entire population of the city -- to be treated with prophylactic antibiotics.

"The community is very quiet, but they are panicked," he said.

Hostettler said depending on the course of the outbreak, local officials and officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were considering an immunization program, possibly to begin within the next 24 hours.

He said thousands of people were standing in line outside the hospital, patiently waiting for treatment or testing, for those who may have been exposed to the infected students.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said the pharmacy is trying to secure more antibiotics but supplies were not low yet.

Symptoms of the bacterial infection are flu-like, and include a low-grade fever, headache, muscle aches, a stiff neck and sometimes nausea.

The two students who died attended the same high school. The third student diagnosed went to a different school.