Shelter-based Meningitis Outbreak: Working together to vaccinate, treat, and investigate

Five cases of meningococcal disease, including two deaths, were reported in homeless adults in Boston, Massachusetts between January 29 and March 9, 2016. Routine meningitis surveillance does not capture housing status, so little is known about cases or risk among people experiencing homelessness. We will present lessons learned for conducting a time-sensitive public health vaccination and prophylaxis campaign in a population of transient and historically difficult to locate people experiencing homelessness. We will also present the results from this investigation including the risk factors determined and new CDC guidelines for people experiencing homelessness.