Chicago Department of Public Health officials said June 5 that a fourth case of meningococcal disease has been located in Chicago.
News of the outbreak broke June 3. Three people in the city were initially infected with the disease, which can lead to meningitis or other infections of the bloodstream, according to Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) officials. One of those cases has proven to be fatal.
CDPH could not say in which parts of the city the infections were located. But Brian Richardson, Deputy Commissioner for CDPH, said that the African American community has been "disproportionately affected" by the outbreak.
City officials and health providers say that numerous Chicagoans have been accessing vaccinations for meningococcal disease following a small outbreak, and are encouraging sexually-active gay men and transgender women in particular to consider vaccination.
"We've moved through a tremendous amount of vaccine," said Richardson. "Our clinics and partner sites have seen a huge number of people come in about this."
Howard Brown Health Center (HBHC) President and CEO David Munar said that HBHC ran out of the vaccine at the end of the day on June 4, but had obtained more by the time the clinic opened the next day. "We've been vaccinating every day since this started," Munar said.
Health officials say that men who have sex with men (MSM) who frequently engage in anonymous sexual activity should be vaccinated, as well as those who meet up with men through hook-up apps and websites such as Grindr, Scruff and Jack'd. MSM's who are HIV-positive should be vaccinated as well.
Transgender women engaging in anonymous sex or using hook-up apps, or are HIV-positive, should be vaccinated too, Munar said. "Frequently their social and sexual networks overlap with those of MSM's."
CDPH also urges straight women who might have had intimate contact with MSM's or transgender women in high-risk groups to be vaccinated. Meningococcal disease is transmitted through intimate contact, such as kissing, as well as contact with saliva.
"This is a very serious infection," Munar added. "It can cause serious illness and it can be deadly. "We really want to interrupt the spread of exposure and we want people to hear the urgency of this call."
Three people died in a bacterial meningitis outbreak in Chicago in 2003, after which CDPH arranged widespread vaccinations. "But if you were vaccinated in 2003 and fall into one of these groups, you need to be vaccinated again," said Richardson.
Anyone who received a vaccination more than 5 years ago should receive another, he added. Furthermore, individuals in high-risk categories who were vaccinated even more recently should speak with their physician about a booster.
A number of sites throughout the city are offering the vaccinations. HBHC and its walk-in HIV/STI clinic provide it free.
CDPH will offer free vaccinations June 7 at its Step Up, Get Tested event at Burnham Park, 3900 S. Lake Shore Dr., from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. To locate other vaccination sites, phone 311 or visit bit.ly/1Jr8C9M .