One-Year-Old Rogers County Boy Showing No Symptoms Of Meningitis

NewsOn6.com

CLAREMORE, OK -- The state health department says there are no new cases of meningitis to report Wednesday morning. 

The Rogers County Health Department says the 1-year-old Claremore area boy transported Tuesday night is not showing symptoms of meningitis. 

At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, OTEMS Ambulance Service was dispatched to Claremore Regional Hospital to transfer a 1-year-old boy to Saint Francis Hospital for tests to confirm or rule out meningitis.

Seven students from the Oologah-Talala School District have been sickened by a strain of meningitis that has already killed two children from Oologah schools.

The Rogers County Health Department is holding a meningitis vaccination clinic at Oologah Lower Elementary School Friday, 12-7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. This clinic is for Oologah residents only, ages 2 to 55. The health department says the vaccine will not be available to those older than 55, because it hasn't been tested for patients in that age group.

3/16/2010  Related Story: Meningitis Vaccination Clinic To Be Held At Oologah Lower Elementary School

Public health officials stress that the general public is not at risk. Only persons who have had close, personal contact to a person with a meningococcal infection have a slightly increased risk of developing the disease.

Symptoms of meningococcal disease may appear two to ten days after infection. People ill with meningococcal septicemia may have fever, nausea, vomiting and a rash. People that are ill with meningitis will have fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck. Officials say it is important to seek care from a physician as soon as possible if these symptoms appear.

3/16/2010  Related Story: Parents Of Oologah Meningitis Victim Agonize Over Sending Kids Back To School

For more information on meningococcal disease, visit the Oklahoma State Department of Health Web site and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.