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Health department says meningococcal case detected |
By Amanda
Newman,
Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Amanda at
anewman@eaglenewspapers.com
|
A McMinnville boy was
confirmed June 9 to have meningococcal disease, Yamhill County’s
second case this year.
The two and a half-year-old boy was given a clinical diagnosis of
the disease June 8, which was confirmed by lab results the following
day, according to Sarah Bates of the Yamhill County Health and Human
Services Department.
The child’s name and current status were not released; however,
Bates confirmed that another child in the boy’s family had
contracted the disease six years ago.
Meningococcal disease refers to any illness caused by the bacterium
Neisseria Meningitidis. The bacterium either causes inflammation of
the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord (meningococcal
meningitis), enters the blood stream (meningococcemia) or infects
the lungs (meningococcal pneumonia).
Although 5 to 10 percent of the population are genetic carriers of
the bacterium, it rarely causes serious disease, according to the
Oregon Public Health Division’s Acute and Communicable Disease
Prevention (ACDP).
Symptoms of meningococcal diseases include a sudden onset of high
fever, headache and stiff neck or a rapidly developing rash, often
on the armpits, groin and ankles, that does not turn white when
pressed, according to Yamhill County Public Health.
Meningococcal disease is spread through the exchange of saliva or
other respiratory secretions. It is not highly contagious. Symptoms
may develop 2 to 10 days following exposure.
According to ACDP, average Oregon meningococcal disease occurrence
rates are 2 per 100,000 people each year, twice the national
average.
In Yamhill County, there were five cases reported in 2006 and four
in 2005, Bates said. According to ACDP, Yamhill County numbers were
as high as nine cases per year in 2000 and 2001.
With a yearly disease average of 4.3 cases per 100,000 people,
Yamhill County is above the state average and within the five Oregon
counties with the highest percentages, according to the ACDP Web
site.
Disease is most common in children under 5 years of age, with teens
entering high school and college freshmen living in dormitories also
notably at risk.
To reduce the possibility of contracting meningococcal disease,
individuals should receive influenza vaccines, avoid close contact
with people with coughs or colds, receive pneumococcal vaccines when
recommended and refrain from smoking or being around people smoking.
“Secondhand smoke exposure has been shown to be ... a cause of
meningococcal disease,” Bates said.
For more information on meningococcal diseases, visit
www.co.yamhill.or.us/ph or oregon.gov/DHS/ph/acd. |
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From
June 16, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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