01/29/2008

Associated Press

One homeless man is dead of meningococcal disease, a second case has been confirmed and a third person has been hospitalized with the ailment, raising concern among local health officials

An alert was issued Monday to area shelters and emergency personnel by the Spokane Regional Health District, although epidemiologist Mark Springer said there was no apparent link among the three cases except that all involved transients.

"Meningococcal disease is contagious, and seeing it among the homeless is a particular concern," Springer said. "The symptoms may be mistaken for intoxication or for a person's normal way of behaving and not treated as a result.

"It's also very important that people understand the danger in sharing cigarettes, drinks and eating utensils — they could get very sick from doing that."

One of the confirmed cases involved a man who had been staying with friends, the other was in a man living on the street and tests are being conducted to determine the specific type of the disease in each case, Springer said.

"It's a serious disease so when we see two cases in a similar population, we start asking a little bit more questions," he said.

Meningococcal disease involves an uncommon bacterial infection that can result in blood infections or meningitis, an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It can cause organ damage, lost limbs, hearing loss and other problems and is transmitted by coughing, sneezing or direct contact with saliva.

However, Springer said local health officials don't see a lot of "secondary transmission," cases in which one person catches the disease from another. Instead, people typically carry the bacteria without problems until it becomes active because of other infections or a weakened immune system.

At the House of Charity, where one man who had the disease stayed Friday, several staff members and "a handful" of residents have been given antibiotics as a precaution, program coordinator Michael Cain said.

"In a place like this, it's impossible to determine who came into contact with him," Cain said. "It's a significant challenge. When you're talking meningitis, you've obviously got to take it very seriously."

Spokane Valley Fire Department medics found the other man last week and took him to Valley Hospital and Medical Center, where he died several hours later, said Emergency Medical Services Division Chief Randy Olson. Three of Olson's staff returned to the hospital the next day for antibiotics.

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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesmanreview.com