Invasive Meningococcal Disease case
Please be advised that on Saturday, Oct. 14 a confirmed case of Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) has been identified in a student who attends St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School. This individual plays on a soccer team and a hockey team in the Belleville area. HPEPH’s Infectious and Communicable Disease team notified and offered chemoprophylaxis to all identified close contacts. The provincial definition of close contact is as follows:
- Household contact of a case
- Children and staff in contact with the case in child care settings
- Persons who have direct nose or mouth contamination with the case’s oral/nasal secretions such as through kissing on the mouth, shared cigarettes, toothbrushes, eating utensils, drinking bottles
- Health care workers (HCWs) who have had intensive unprotected contact (without wearing a mask) with an infected person such as in intubation, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or closely examining the oropharynx
- Persons who share sleeping arrangements with the case
- Airline passengers sitting immediately on either side of the case, but not across the aisle, when the total time spent aboard the aircraft was at least 8 hours
While all identified close contacts have been notified, we encourage local health care providers to have a heightened awareness of the presence of IMD in the community and screen patients accordingly for symptoms of the disease.
If your patient is a close contact of the case and requires prophylaxis, please refer to page 7 of the Infectious Disease Protocol for IMD or refer them to the ICD team at 613-966-5500, ext 349.
Chemoprophylaxis should be given to close contacts as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours of the case being identified. Prophylaxis given greater than 14 days after exposure may be of little to no value. The infectious period for the index case is believed to be between Oct. 4 to Oct. 13, 2023. Chemoprophylaxis is not recommended for casual contacts such as school, work or transportation contacts, social contacts, persons without direct contact with the case and HCWs without direct exposure to a case’s nasal/oral secretions.
Hospitalized persons should be placed under droplet precautions until 24 hours after initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy in addition to routine practices.
Please contact us at 613-966-5500, ext. 349 if you have any specific questions.
.png?1632837722057)
.png?1578593886679)