Meningitis Investigation Focuses On Victims, Not Source Of Outbreak

By Dan Bewley, The News On 6

UNDATED -- Although paramedics and a hospital initially told The News On 6 that a 1-year old boy transported to Saint Francis Tuesday night was showing symptoms of meningitis, the Rogers County Health Department now says he is not.

The Oklahoma Department of Health says there are still only seven confirmed cases of meningitis in the Oologah-Talala school district, and there have been no new cases reported since Monday.

It's a case that has gripped the town of Oologah. Two children have died and five others are in the hospital because of a deadly disease that has the community wondering what happens next.

3/16/2010 Related Story: One-Year-Old Rogers County Boy Showing No Symptoms Of Meningitis

Many in the Oologah community are wondering if the state Department of Health and the Rogers County Health Department is looking to find the source of the outbreak.

The state health department says it's taking the necessary steps to prevent the bacteria from spreading, but it's not looking to find where it all began.

Dr. Robert Gray is director of OMNI Medical Group.

"To make an analogy it's kind of like a campfire: we don't know exactly what the first spark is but we know exactly how to put the fire out," said Dr. Robert Gray, OMNI Medical Group.

The health department says, and Dr. Gray agrees, that it's impossible to find who the original carrier of the disease was since 5 percent of the population is already hosting it but is unaffected.

"We would even have trouble in this case where the most ill people are identified, but you don't know who, exactly, became infected first because there are different incubation periods in different people," Dr. Gray said.

The health department says it approaches a meningitis outbreak like the flu - treat the people affected and don't waste resources searching for a source that may never be found.

Dr. Gray says the health departments focus on treating school children with an antibiotic is the right approach. He says efforts to sanitize the school may look good but since the bacteria can't survive outside the body it's essentially, a wasted effort.  

"That is not going to save anybody from getting infected," he said.

Dr. Gray wants residents to remember the disease is transmitted by direct human contact.

"So you'd have to use the same Kleenex or same toothbrush," said Dr. Robert Gray, director of the OMNI Medical Group.

He adds unless you've been directly in touch with a victim, you shouldn't worry.

"It is way less transmissible than a common cold or influenza is," Dr. Gray said.

Dr. Gray reminds residents the incubation period is generally 10 days and anyone showing symptoms until then should contact their doctor.

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

Meningitis vaccination clinic:

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.

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