State health officials warn of meningitis outbreak

The recent death of a Ramsey County man has some public health officials concerned about the potential for an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Health is urging all men who have sex with men to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

Kris Ehresmann, the department's director of infectious disease epidemiology, said the man who died was in his 40s and was HIV positive. He did not seek medical treatment.

That's why it's so important for people to see a doctor immediately if they experience symptoms, she said.

"Although meningococcal disease is relatively rare, it can be very serious and life threatening," Ehresmann said. "The incubation is one to 10 days, but once someone starts to develop symptoms, it can proceed really rapidly."

Symptoms include fever, vomiting, headache, stiff neck and extreme sleepiness.

The man who died in Minnesota carried the same group of bacteria that has sickened seven men in Chicago, including one who died.