Ken Williams | SDGLN Editor in Chief | San Diego Gay & Lesbian News | April 19, 2013
SAN DIEGO – Local health officials are disputing a media report that meningitis has been found in San Diego’s gay community, and trying to quell rumors.
An uptick in meningitis cases has been documented in the gay communities of New York City and Los Angeles. Seven men who have sex with men (MSM) have died in New York City since 2010, and at least two MSM have died in Los Angeles since December. Some LGBT activists and community leaders are concerned and trying to prevent further infections or deaths.
On Tuesday, AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein spoke at a news conference in L.A. and worried that not enough is being done to prevent a serious outbreak in meningitis in the gay community. LGBT|POV quoted Weinstein:
“We came before you a couple of days ago to say we’re here to raise an alert and not an alarm. That’s still the case because we do not know the extent of this and whether this should be characterized as an outbreak. But what is really alarming – we cannot do the job of the Public Health Department – whether that’s the CDC, the state or the County Public Health Department – the fact that the officials knew of this other case here in Los Angeles [Rjay Spoon] and one or two more in San Diego and said nothing is very, very concerning …
“We’re calling today for Los Angeles County to immediately get behind this vaccination effort. We’re wondering how many more illnesses or deaths there needs to be before they’re going to get off their hands. The reality is if we have three deaths [two in LA, one in San Diego] – then there must be many more cases, because this disease is only deadly in about one in six cases. So we’re wondering how many more cases the County is aware of that it is not reporting on.”
Filed under: Health/Mental Care Tagged: AIDS Healthcare Foundation, California, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health department, Los Angeles, meningitis, meningitis outbreak, Michael Weinstein, New York, New York City, Rjay Spoon, San Diego
