Elizabeth Cohen: Meningitis outbreak in Ohio

Cohen

Elizabeth Cohen is a medical correspondent for CNN's Health and Medical Unit. She is in Alliance, Ohio, reporting on an outbreak of meningitis in local schools.

Q: What is the latest news on the meningitis vaccinations?

Cohen: In and around Alliance, Ohio, they are planning on vaccinating nearly 6,000 students, faculty and staff today at six local high schools. They are doing this because since Memorial Day weekend, two students have died and another student has become ill, and so they hope that this will keep anyone else from becoming ill.

Q: How common are meningitis outbreaks, and is there any connection with recent outbreaks in the Toronto area?

Cohen: There is meningitis at all times throughout the United States and southern Canada. For example, there are 150 cases in Ohio alone every year, so you are going to see sporadic cases while this outbreak is occurring. We have been told by the Centers of Disease Control and the Ohio Department of Health that there are no other cases related to this outbreak, just the three cases we already know about.

VIDEO CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has more on the outbreak in Alliance, Ohio (June 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     RESOURCES Learn more about meningitis from the CDC

Q: How is the public reacting to the outbreak?

Cohen: Many of these students have been shunned. We were talking to a girl whose uncle called up her family and said, please don't come to a party that we're having. They invited her, then they uninvited her because she goes to West Branch High School where the two teenagers died. Other students have been asked to leave work. Students say that when they walk through town with their West Branch High School T-shirts, people cross over to the other side of the street, so it is interesting that here's a disease that cannot be spread just by seeing someone or walking by them, or working next to them, that still has made people very nervous.

Q: How effective is the vaccine, and why isn't it recommended more broadly against meningitis?

Cohen: The vaccine is thought to be extremely effective against this kind of meningitis, it takes about seven to ten days for it to become effective, and it's thought to be very safe. They are getting it for about $55 a shot. This is the kind of vaccine that you only get in this situation. They are only doing this because there is an outbreak, this isn't something that everybody gets. There have been residents whose children go to school a little further away, and they want the vaccine too because their kids socialize with kids from this area, but the public health authorities are being very strict, and unless you go to one of these six schools, you cannot receive a vaccination.

Q: What is the agent involved in this type of meningitis, and how easy is it to catch it?

Cohen: This kind of meningitis that we see here is caused by bacteria and it's actually relatively hard to catch. You have to have close personal contact. In other words, you have to kiss someone who is infected, you have to share utensils with someone, you have to drink from their cup of water, so this is not something that is airborne. This is not something you can catch through casual contact, such as swimming in the same pool, sitting next to someone on a bus, none of that would spread the disease.

Q: What kind of treatment is used for bacterial meningitis?

Cohen: There were two patients who died, and the third patient who almost lost her life was just taken out of intensive care yesterday and is in stable condition. They had to stabilize her in many ways, they had to give her medication to keep her blood pressure going, they gave her antibiotics, and she seems to be pulling through.

Q: What else besides vaccination can be done to avoid infection?

Cohen: To avoid contracting it, you would want to do things like not drink out of someone else's cup, or kiss someone who is infected. When people cough and sneeze they should cover their mouth, really pretty basic kinds of things that people will, I think already know about -- basic hygiene. When there is an outbreak like this, public health authorities are telling people to be on the look-out. If you have flu-like symptoms such as headache and stiff neck, you should be evaluated by your doctor to make sure it's not something more than just flu.