Health officials in Crook County fear they may have a second case of meningitis. On March 9th, a Crook County High School student was diagnosed. He's in a Portland hospital upgraded to serious condition. "Any strain of meningococcal bacteria is very serious, and the fatality rate is high” says Health Department Spokesperson Kerin Yeargain. Crook County health officials in Prineville are on alert; they are trying to figure out if there's another case of meningitis. Yesterday, a 24 year old male with similar symptoms was taken to the Pioneer Memorial Hospital Emergency Department and then to St. Charles via Airlink. Yeargain says there are a handful of people who had close contact with the man and they have been notified. Yeargain says there is a vaccine available to prevent some cases in teens: “In Oregon, about little over half of the strain that we see is Type B, which is not contained in the vaccine. So we prevent that with mainly being aware and catching the illness quickly and doing preventative treatment for close contact.” The rest of the strains seen in Oregon are preventable thru vaccination.
