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  • Dr. Sam Stauffer has been an Oologah physician for nearly 30 years. PROGRESS PHOTO/Krystal J. Carman

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March 12, 2010

Oologah doctor says meningitis outbreak rare

Krystal J. Carman Staff Writer

CLAREMORE — Dr. Sam Stauffer has been the only physician in Oologah for 29 years and he says nothing like this outbreak of meningitis has happened before.

“This is a serious situation,” said Dr. Stauffer, a family practice physician with Omni Medical Group. “It’s very serious. I feel sorry for the families.

“It’s not a very common disease. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of a situation in a school district where it’s happened. It’s never happened in my time that I’ve practiced in 30 years and I’m not sure that there’s any place that I’ve heard it’s happened in the state of Oklahoma.”

Stauffer said there have been isolated cases of meningitis that occur all the time, but not several cases at once.

“Why that has happened will be up to the state health department to figure out,” he said.

Bonnie Christiansen was driving her young son to his afternoon pre-kindergarten class Thursday around 1 p.m. when she heard on the radio about the meningitis outbreak.

So instead of dropping her son off at Oologah-Talala Lower Elementary School, she picked up her 7-year-old daughter. Christiansen, a mother of five children who all attend Oologah-Talala Schools, then proceeded to the gymnasium in an attempt to get her son and daughter treated with an antibiotic.

“The line in the gym was pretty long,” she said. “But after I get more information from this press conference, I am definitely taking my son and daughter to be treated.”

Approximately 500 doses of Rocephin and Rifampinwere brought to the school by the Oklahoma State Health Department. These are antibiotics prescribed for those who had close contact with those who have meningitis that eliminate the bacteria from the nose and throat of persons carrying it. This prevents the development of the meningococcal infection.

As of Friday morning prior to the clinic’s reopening at the gymnasium, officials say approximately 600 doses were administered Thursday.

The antibiotic is being given as a preventive measure instead of the vaccination. According to Stauffer, the meningitis vaccination does not take affect immediately so that is not warranted in this situation.

“The vaccination takes time to work,” he said. “It will take weeks for it to work. What we’re basically doing is prophylaxis. We’re giving them the shot so if the organism is in their throat or in the upper respiratory system, it will kill that off.”

Christiansen usually drives her children to school, but for many other children who attend the lower elementary, the school’s busses are the only means of transportation.

According to officials, children who have ridden on bus Nos. 1, 7, 12 or 17 are being asked to visit the clinic at the gymnasium on Friday for treatment.

The health department is only treating those directly affected by the six children who contracted the disease. Two have died and four remain hospitalized. All teachers, staff and students from the lower elementary were treated on Thursday.

Stauffer said parents of lower elementary students were not treated.

“Treating a contact of a contact is very low gain in stopping the disease,” he said. “So you want to treat this first level of people, get the medicine and get them all treated and hopefully that will slow anything down.”

The Oklahoma State Health Department has opened a phone bank to provide information to the public regarding cases of meningococcal disease in the Oologah-Talala Lower Elementary School. Anyone needing more information can call 1-866-278-7134 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

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