AURORA | Aurora’s homeless shelters began rolling out vaccines against the bacteria responsible for serious and sometimes fatal cases of meningitis Friday, following a string of infections reported among Denver’s unhoused population.
Seventeen people were vaccinated against meningococcal bacteria Feb. 2 during a free “pop-up clinic” held at the Aurora Day Resource Center, according to the Adams County Health Department.
It was the first of a series of clinics sponsored by the county health department catering to Aurora’s homeless residents — the second clinic will take place at the Comitis Crisis Center from 4:30 pm. to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6.
While public health officials say the meningococcal bacteria outbreak poses little risk to most people, the threat to homeless people living and sleeping side-by-side in group shelters during cold weather is significant enough that Adams and Denver counties are working proactively to prevent more infections in and around Denver.
“Outbreaks are rare. It’s a rare infection, but it’s extremely serious,” said Bernadette Albanese, medical director of the Adams County Health Department. “We’re trying to offer a vaccine in lots of different settings where these individuals receive their services as a way to prevent the infection from getting introduced into more places.”
Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment reported Friday that, since Jan. 12, four homeless people living in Denver have become sick due to a confirmed meningococcal infection.
The infections can cause meningitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain and spine, as well as other life-threatening illnesses.
Bacteria can spread through the saliva of an infected person, which means people living in close proximity are at a higher risk of infecting one another, especially if they share eating utensils, beverages, cigarettes and other items that may come into contact with an infected person’s mouth or nose.
Courtney Ronner, a spokeswoman for the Denver department, said no connection has been established among the four Denver cases. Still, the department is referring to the cases as a “community-based outbreak.”
“While risk for transmission is low for the general public, we are recommending people experiencing homelessness get the vaccine because of the uptick in cases in this population,” Ronner said.
The four patients that the department knows of were offered antibiotics, as were fellow shelter users and staff at the locations where the patients had recently stayed. Denver has started standing up vaccine clinics of its own at local homeless shelters and will continue vaccinating unhoused residents “throughout the next few months,” Ronner said.
The three county health departments serving Aurora say there have so far been no local cases of meningococcal disease stemming from the Denver outbreak. Arapahoe and Douglas county health officials indicated they are aware of and are monitoring the outbreak and are watching for local reports of infections, but they are not planning vaccination events.
Albanese said Adams County health care workers plan to return to the Aurora Day Resource Center and Comitis several times to vaccinate and provide prevention information to as many clients as possible.
“And we’re trying to figure out other settings where we can do that, as well,” she said. “You have to go back, and go back, and go back, and encourage people to get the vaccine. And hopefully people get one, and hopefully people get their questions answered.”