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Nurses in North Dakota curtail
meningitis outbreak Posted 3-15-99 Public health nurses organized and directed a massive effort to immunize more than 4,000 children in a three-day period last month after an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in Williston, North Dakota, left one toddler dead and two others hospitalized. More than 80 nurses—including public health nurses from neighboring towns and volunteer hospital and clinic nurses—were involved, said Jan Trimmer, MS, RN, executive officer for the Upper Missouri District Health Unit. "We put out a call far and wide for additional support knowing if we were going to do such a massive campaign we needed experienced hands helping." Children and young adults age 18 months to 21 years received the free vaccine at two community sites and several schools in the town of 11,000. Parents and other community members helped with paperwork and routed youngsters through the immunization process. Volunteer EMTs and nurses filled the syringes, Trimmer said. Because of all the advance work by volunteers, the campaign was completed efficiently, said Kathy Stenson, RN, public health nurse for the district. "We were allowing five minutes per shot, but we weren’t taking that long." Young children receiving the immunizations were accompanied by their parents, Stenson said. "The parents were pretty calm and reassuring for their children. It wasn’t a big panic situation." The decision to classify the string of cases as an "outbreak" and to undertake the mass immunization campaign was made by state and local health officials in conjunction with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Trimmer said. State health officials called it a "precautionary measure" and said the immunizations would reduce the likelihood of additional illnesses. Meningococcal meningitis is a rare infection of the bloodstream and the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The illness can be spread through coughing, sneezing, and exposure to saliva, and is most common in infants and children. Between 10 and 15 percent of those who develop it die, according to a statement from state health officials. Although no additional cases were confirmed after the three-day campaign in mid-February, public health nurses continued to offer free immunizations through early March. Related Site |