XPost: sac.politics, alt.california, alt.politics.homosexuality   
   XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: typical.negro.behavior@latimes.com   
      
   Los Angeles County health officials on Friday again urged gay   
   and bisexual men to get vaccinated against meningitis, as an   
   outbreak that began last year continues to grow.   
      
   Twenty-nine people in the county have been diagnosed with   
   meningitis since March 2016, with the latest case identified a   
   few weeks ago. Earlier this year, one patient died from the   
   infection.   
      
   Anyone can contract meningitis, which is transmitted through   
   swapping saliva, like kissing or sharing drinks and cigarettes.   
   It makes people fall suddenly ill and can cause swelling in the   
   brain and spinal cord. The disease can leave people permanently   
   deaf, with brain damage or without limbs. It can kill within a   
   few hours.   
      
   Health officials think the current L.A. outbreak is rooted in   
   the gay community because 10 of the 29 infected people in Los   
   Angeles County were either gay or bisexual men, according to   
   county data.   
      
   Many of the cases carry the same strain of meningococcus   
   bacteria, known as serotype C, and have been linked through   
   social connections, according to the health department.   
      
   There’s no medical knowledge of why meningitis would spread more   
   among gay and bisexual men. Yet over the past decade, gay   
   communities in Chicago, New York, Berlin, Paris, Toronto and   
   L.A. County have been disproportionately affected by the disease.   
      
   L.A. officials initially thought the uptick was caused by HIV-   
   positive patients becoming infected because of weakened immune   
   systems. But few in this latest outbreak have been HIV-positive,   
   they say.   
      
   So they are recommending that all gay and bisexual men get   
   vaccinated, especially considering the annual L.A. Pride   
   Festival this weekend. The events begin Friday night and   
   continue through Sunday.   
      
   The vaccine isn’t typically recommended because meningitis is so   
   rare — about 4,000 people contract the infection a year in the   
   U.S. Instead, it is administered to specific groups considered   
   high-risk, including teens, college students and military   
   recruits.   
      
   L.A. County has distributed thousands of vaccines since the   
   outbreak began. Free vaccines are available at several locations.   
      
   ”The upcoming Pride festivities are a great time to remind those   
   at risk for meningococcal disease to get vaccinated,” Dr.   
   Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the county’s interim health officer, said   
   in a statement Friday. “Because this vaccine is highly effective   
   against this disease, we want to make it as easily available as   
   possible for those who need it.”   
      
   Let the ignorant bastards die.   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-meningitis-   
   20170609-story.html   
      
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