I missed putting a blog post last week – I got preoccupied with Spring Break!
San Diego is warning people to be alert for symptoms of meningitis as there has been 16 confirmed cases of meningococcal meningitis across the border in Tijuana. Of the 16 cases, five resulted in death.
Last I heard, they’ve found increased number of meningitis cases in San Diego and in Los Angeles, but not yet in Orange County.
Students have told me that they saw on TV that this meningitis has been initially liked to some marijuana use.
More meningitis cases in Southern California from last November and December may also be connected to the Tijuana outbreak, said Steve Waterman, MD, MPH, lead for the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) U.S.-Mexico Unit.
“So right now there’s actually 13 cases that are considered possibly part of this cluster in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Bernadino Counties,” said Waterman.
Waterman said the Southern California strains match, but data results from Mexico have not yet been confirmed.
“There are a fair number of strains,” he said. “This is a new strain that hasn’t typically been seen in Southern California.”
OC Meningitis Patient loses all 4 limbs
While researching this story, I found an article that spotlights an OC teen who was diagnosed with meningitis in February and has undergone 6 surgeries, including amputation of both arms and legs – http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Orange-County-Schools-Warned-Bacterial-Infection-meningococcal-disease-200631211.html
References:
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/mar/22/more-meningitis-cases-in-socal-may-be-linked-to-ti/
The Cerebral Lounge 