Ohio starts vaccinating students

Ohio health officials plan to vaccinate 5,600 students and teachers against meningococcal disease

ALLIANCE, Ohio (CNN) -- Thousands of students began getting vaccinations Friday against a bacterial outbreak that has left two teen-agers dead and a third hospitalized from meningitis-related illnesses.

The state health department plans to inoculate 5,800 students and teachers at six high schools around Alliance. School superintendent Lou Ramunno told CNN the six schools were chosen because interactions among the children there were most frequent.

By the time the vaccination program closed Friday, Ohio Health Commission spokeswoman Beth Gianforcaro said at least 4,200 people had received inoculations. She said anyone who missed Friday's immunizations could go to their local health deparment to get vaccinated.

Health officials said the bacteria can only be transmitted by close contact, such as kissing or sharing utensils, not by casual contact.

"If you ride the same school bus, drink from the same public water fountain, go to the same restaurant, you're at no risk -- no increased risk -- for meningococcal disease," said Mahoning County Health Commissioner Matt Stefanak.

VIDEO CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has more on the outbreak in Alliance, Ohio (June 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO CDC: No contact between Ohio outbreak cases Immunizations ordered against Ohio outbreak Officials weigh vaccinations in meningitis scare   SYMPTOMS High fever Stiff neck Headache Nausea Source: CDC

ON THE SCENE CNN's Elizabeth Cohen discusses the outbreak     MORE Get more information on meningococcal disease from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Despite such reassurances, many students said they were being shunned by people outside their community -- excluded from parties and sporting events out of fear of the bacteria. Last weekend, some 37,000 people lined up at two hospitals to get preventive antibiotic doses.

"The community is pretty frightened and they're confused," Ramunno said. "They're trying to learn as much as they can about the bacteria, how it's transmitted, the history of it, so they can protect their own children. I think as they understand more about the process itself and how it's transmitted they'll be more comfortable with it and they'll be able to move on."

A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl who attended the same school died over Memorial Day weekend after becoming infected with Neisseria meningitidis group c, a strain of bacteria that can cause meningitis.

A third infected student, an 18-year-old girl who attended a different school, remains at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. She was transferred out of intensive care Thursday.

"She's making good progress," said Dr. Blaise Congeni. "She was very ill, very close to death, but she's making good progress."

The three students apparently had no contact with one another, leaving community members and health officials to wonder how they all became infected.

"That's something we'll never really know and that's one of the mysteries of this kind of outbreak," said Dr. Pratima Raghunathan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Up to 10 percent of the population can carry the bacteria that cause meningitis without ever becoming ill, said CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner, and those people can also infect others.

Symptoms include high fever, stiff neck and headache.

Health officials say they're hopeful the outbreak is winding down.

"I'm really very optimistic that this will be the end of it for a couple of reasons," said Dr. Congeni. "There's been a large number of individuals here who've been treated with the antibiotic. The vaccination program is being initiated. And probably most important, school is out so that if school and the crowding that takes place in school was playing any role, that will be over."

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen contributed to this report