If You’re A Gay Man, Get Vaccinated for Meningitis – Health Officials Warns Gay Men

“Since August 2010, we’ve detected 12 cases of this very specific strain but what we’re most concerned about is that in the past four weeks there have been four cases and one of those cases has died,” Deputy Commissioner for Disease Control in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Jay Varma, told CBS affiliate 1010 WINS. 

All of the recent bacterial meningitis cases have involved HIV-positive gay men who have had close contact with nose or throat discharges from an infected person. The New York Health Department initially issued a warning about the bacterial meningitis for HIV-positive men, but have since changed that warning to apply to all gay men. There have been 17 cases of bacterial meningitis in New York since 2012 and 22 cases since 2010, seven of which were fatal. 

This new strain is highly contagious. Public health officials in San Francisco health officials have issued a warning to gay men to get vaccinated against bacterial meningitis if they plan to travel to New York. 

Meanwhile, this story is noticeably missing from local and national headlines — a troubling fact when you consider how the media has waged a personal agenda for gay marriage which affects less than 4% of the general public.