Third UC Santa Barbara undergrad confirmed positive for meningococcal meningitis

In a follow-up to a report Wednesday, the Santa Barbara County Health Department announced Thursday the confirmation of a third case of meningococcal meningitis in a UC Santa Barbara undergraduate student.

Microbiology culture testing has shown that all three cases grew the causative bacterium of meningococcemia, Neisseria meningitidis.

Public domain image/Mikael Häggström

Antibiotic susceptibility testing on the strains all reveal susceptibility to routine antibiotics that treat this bacterial infection.

However, just like the meningococcal meningitis outbreak reported from Princeton University in New Jersey, the strain of the bacterium has been confirmed as meningicoccal meningitis serogroup B in two of the students. Results on the third are pending.

The group B strain of the bacteria is not covered in the two currently licensed meningococcal vaccines in the United States.

The University of California system does not require students to have a meningitis vaccination.

Health officials are working closely with the university to identify “close contacts” of the three students to ensure they are given prophylactic antibiotics.

A close contact is defined as “individuals who may have come into contact with the saliva or respiratory secretions of the ill patients through kissing, sharing eating utensils, drinking cups, cigarettes, or extended face-to-face interactions within 7 days of the onset of illness”.

What is meningitis, how do you get infected and how can you prevent it?

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