Chicago Issues Meningitis Alert To Gays After Three Die
Sat. October 18, 2003 12:00 AM by 365gay.com
Chicago, IL -
The city's Department of Public Health Saturday issued an alert to the city's gay community after three people died of meningitis believed to have originated in the North Side gay community.
In all, six cases have been diagnosed in the past week and health officials fear more may come.
Dr. John Wilhelm, CDPH Commissioner told a news conference that all of those known to be infected are gay or bisexual men who were in direct contact with each other during the first two weeks of October
Officials are looking into a "variety of establishments" on the North Side "that the gay and bisexual community frequent," Wilhelm said.
Health Department physicians and staff members spreading out in the Lakeview and Bucktown neighborhoods Saturday night, distributing flyers and answering questions about the disease.
Symptoms of meningitis generally include fever, severe headache, stiffness in the neck, rash, nausea, and vomiting. If not treated quickly with antibiotics, the disease can become fatal within a day or so.
Transmission of the disease occurs through close, direct contact with others, usually through sexual encounters, kissing, sneezing, coughing, or sharing items that have been in another person's mouth or nose, according to the health department.
The health department is warning Chicago's gay community that people showing symptoms to not assume they have the flu. If they have "any question at all" about their health, they should check it out with a doctor.
by Steph Smith
365Gay.com Newscenter
Chicago Bureau
©365Gay.com® 2003
In all, six cases have been diagnosed in the past week and health officials fear more may come.
Dr. John Wilhelm, CDPH Commissioner told a news conference that all of those known to be infected are gay or bisexual men who were in direct contact with each other during the first two weeks of October
Officials are looking into a "variety of establishments" on the North Side "that the gay and bisexual community frequent," Wilhelm said.
Health Department physicians and staff members spreading out in the Lakeview and Bucktown neighborhoods Saturday night, distributing flyers and answering questions about the disease.
Symptoms of meningitis generally include fever, severe headache, stiffness in the neck, rash, nausea, and vomiting. If not treated quickly with antibiotics, the disease can become fatal within a day or so.
Transmission of the disease occurs through close, direct contact with others, usually through sexual encounters, kissing, sneezing, coughing, or sharing items that have been in another person's mouth or nose, according to the health department.
The health department is warning Chicago's gay community that people showing symptoms to not assume they have the flu. If they have "any question at all" about their health, they should check it out with a doctor.
by Steph Smith
365Gay.com Newscenter
Chicago Bureau
©365Gay.com® 2003
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.