Outbreak sparks meningitis alert
BY ELIZABETH HAYS
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/402266p-340609c.html
A "cluster" of spinal meningitis cases in Brooklyn has already killed four people - and health officials are urging doctors across the city to be on heightened alert.
So far there have been at least nine cases of the disease - and possibly a 10th - in central, west and north Brooklyn since late December, according to a public health alert sent by Department of Health officials.
Typically, there are an average of 1.3 cases during the same period in the whole borough.
City Department of Health spokesman Andrew Tucker said yesterday the agency is "investigating a cluster of nine people who have been diagnosed with meningococcal infections."
Officials said none of the victims were known to have had contact.
The disease, which is caused by a bacterial infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, is spread by prolonged close contact. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, stiff neck, headache, mental confusion and fatigue.
If detected early, the disease can be treated with antibiotics. Untreated meningitis can spread quickly and be fatal.
The alert comes just days after Brooklyn hip hop artist Lumumba (Professor X) Carson of X-Clan died of the disease on Friday at 49. Carson was the son of the controversial Brooklyn activist Sonny Carson.
Parents and staffers at Boys and Girls High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant are also on alert after a freshman was hospitalized with meningitis last week.
It was unclear if those two known cases were included in the cluster.
Originally published on March 23, 2006
BY ELIZABETH HAYS
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/402266p-340609c.html
A "cluster" of spinal meningitis cases in Brooklyn has already killed four people - and health officials are urging doctors across the city to be on heightened alert.
So far there have been at least nine cases of the disease - and possibly a 10th - in central, west and north Brooklyn since late December, according to a public health alert sent by Department of Health officials.
Typically, there are an average of 1.3 cases during the same period in the whole borough.
City Department of Health spokesman Andrew Tucker said yesterday the agency is "investigating a cluster of nine people who have been diagnosed with meningococcal infections."
Officials said none of the victims were known to have had contact.
The disease, which is caused by a bacterial infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, is spread by prolonged close contact. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, stiff neck, headache, mental confusion and fatigue.
If detected early, the disease can be treated with antibiotics. Untreated meningitis can spread quickly and be fatal.
The alert comes just days after Brooklyn hip hop artist Lumumba (Professor X) Carson of X-Clan died of the disease on Friday at 49. Carson was the son of the controversial Brooklyn activist Sonny Carson.
Parents and staffers at Boys and Girls High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant are also on alert after a freshman was hospitalized with meningitis last week.
It was unclear if those two known cases were included in the cluster.
Originally published on March 23, 2006
