{"id":552578,"date":"2026-01-29T22:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552578\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T22:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:50:11","slug":"2-dead-from-meningococcal-disease-in-chicago-as-7-cases-reported-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552578\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Dead From Meningococcal Disease In Chicago As 7 Cases Reported This Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 Cases of meningococcal disease are on the rise in Chicago, with seven confirmed cases that have resulted in two deaths in about two weeks, city public health officials said.<\/p>\n

The seven cases of the dangerous illness have been reported since Jan. 15, according to a Thursday Chicago Department of Public Health news release. The health department has traced those in close contact with the patients and have given a post-exposure treatment to anyone who may have been exposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city typically has 10-15 reports of infection per year, with cases more concentrated during the winter and more common among the elderly and young adults, according to the health department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The disease is spread through \u201cdirect contact with saliva\u201d and usually requires close and lengthy contact to spread, according to the health department. Though less contagious than the common cold or flu, it\u2019s a \u201cvery serious illness\u201d that requires treatment, according to the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meningococcal disease can \u201cfirst appear as a flu-like illness,\u201d with the most common symptoms including fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, increased sensitivity to light and confusion, according<\/a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But infections can \u201crapidly worsen\u201d and turn deadly without treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those experiencing symptoms should see their health care provider immediately. For better protection, Illinois recommends children receive a vaccination at ages 11-12 and a booster dose at 16, according to the health department.<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Cases of meningococcal disease are on the rise in Chicago, with seven confirmed cases that have…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":552579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,210,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-552578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115980836843975232","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}