{"id":1347,"date":"2022-09-23T12:38:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T12:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/?page_id=1347"},"modified":"2022-10-06T17:22:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T17:22:59","slug":"meningococcal-outbreak-in-eastern-region","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/meningococcal-outbreak-in-eastern-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Meningococcal Outbreak in Eastern Region"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1137\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/2022\/04\/Letterhead-Greene_2022-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"820\" height=\"218\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Meningococcal Outbreak in Eastern Region<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">September 23, 2022<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dear Colleague,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is reporting an increase in meningococcal disease activity in the eastern region of Virginia. Six cases of invasive meningococcal disease serogroup Y were reported between June and August, which exceeds the expected number of cases. Whole genome sequencing confirmed that the cases are genetically linked, and thereby constitute a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/meningococcal\/outbreaks\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">community outbreak of meningococcal disease<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0 Note that this strain is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">not<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> resistant to ciprofloxacin and penicillin, as has been <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/69\/wr\/mm6924a2.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">previously detected<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in Maryland and northern Virginia in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To date, VDH has not identified a common risk factor among the cases, and we suspect the cases are connected by asymptomatic community transmission.\u00a0 Several case-patients are residents of Norfolk, with additional cases detected in other parts of Hampton Roads.\u00a0 The majority of case-patients are Black or African American.\u00a0 Most case-patients are adults between 30-40 years old.\u00a0 Five case-patients are unvaccinated for serogroup Y, and one is partially vaccinated.\u00a0 Two case-patients have died from complications associated with the disease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Early identification and follow up are key to preventing further transmission.\u00a0 Public health responds to reports of suspect meningococcal disease by rapidly identifying close contacts for whom short-term antibiotics are recommended for prophylaxis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I ask you to take the following steps:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maintain a high index of suspicion for meningococcal infection, especially in patients presenting with sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck, and photophobia.\u00a0 A petechial rash with pink macules might also be observed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Immediately notify your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/data\/vdh-geography-locator-tool\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">local health department (LHD)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> if meningococcal disease is suspected based on clinical findings or laboratory results of gram-negative diplococci or Neisseria meningitidis from a normally sterile site.\u00a0 Please coordinate with the LHD to send specimens\/isolates for newly identified cases to Virginia\u2019s state public health lab, DCLS, for serotyping.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Continue to encourage routine administration of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/vpd\/mening\/hcp\/recommendations.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">MenACWY<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> vaccine in adolescents and younger children, also including children and adults at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/meningococcal\/about\/risk-factors.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">increased risk<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (e.g., persons with HIV).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you for your attention and cooperation on this emerging situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sincerely,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Colin M. Greene, MD, MPH<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Colonel, US Army, retired<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">State Health Commissioner<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Meningococcal Outbreak in Eastern Region September 23, 2022\u00a0 Dear Colleague, The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is reporting an increase in meningococcal disease activity in the eastern region of Virginia. Six cases of invasive meningococcal disease serogroup Y were reported between June and August, which exceeds the expected number of cases. Whole genome sequencing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1347","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meningococcal Outbreak in Eastern Region - Clinicians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/meningococcal-outbreak-in-eastern-region\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meningococcal Outbreak in Eastern Region - Clinicians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Meningococcal Outbreak in Eastern Region September 23, 2022\u00a0 Dear Colleague, The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is reporting an increase in meningococcal disease activity in the eastern region of Virginia. Six cases of invasive meningococcal disease serogroup Y were reported between June and August, which exceeds the expected number of cases. 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Six cases of invasive meningococcal disease serogroup Y were reported between June and August, which exceeds the expected number of cases. 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