Students not at risk for meningococcal meningitis

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Hamilton Public Health officials insist neither the McMaster University community nor the general public is at risk after a student was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis last week.

The student was tested for the bacterial infection September 25th and Public Health was notified of a positive test result on the 26th. Fellow students who’d been in close contact with the student were made aware September 28th. Dr. Jessica Hopkins, with Hamilton Public Health, says preventive antibiotic treatment was prescribed if any of those people were at risk of catching it, “People are most at risk of catching it from another person if they have very close personal contact. So kissing, sharing items like utensils without washing them in between.” Meningitis patients are generally contagious for seven days before they start to show symptoms and their contagiousness drops off about 24 hours after they begin antibiotic treatment.

There are several strains of meningococcal meningitis, most of which are routinely vaccinated against in infancy or in elementary school. Testing is being done to determine which strain the student has and those results should be in by the end of the week. Dr. Hopkins says a strain called serogroup b is the most common strain circulating in Canada right now. A vaccine for that strain is available but it’s not part of Ontario’s publicly funded program and is relatively new.

However, Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, an infectious disease specialist at McMaster Children’s Hospital, says this case shouldn’t prompt people to rush out and be vaccinated. University students are one of the most at risk populations for meningitis because they are often in close quarters but Pernica stresses casual contact won’t spread the infection, “People who might have been standing on the bus beside somebody who got meningitis don’t need to worry about any appreciable risk of developing this disease.” Pernica says there’s no harm in getting the vaccine but this case shouldn’t make people feel like they’re at an increased risk of meningitis.

The symptoms of meningococcal meningitis are severe and include painful headaches, high fever, vomiting, stiff neck and unusual drowsiness. They typically escalate quickly. The infection is very rare; Ontario sees only 50 cases each year. Eight to ten per cent of those cases are fatal.

Public Health advises people to avoid sharing anything that comes in contact with the mouth including utensils, toothbrushes and cigarettes.