Complaints surface about lack of warning during meningitis outbreak at Dalhousie

People close to a student who died from meningococcal disease in Halifax last week are angry, and say public health officials — and Dalhousie University — offered too little warning about the outbreak.

In an internal email to students on Dec. 12, later obtained by CBC News, Dalhousie University said Public Health had notified the school of one case of "an infectious disease" identified within its residence community that previous weekend.

An 18-year-old woman from Ontario died in her dorm that same day — just hours after contracting the disease.

The death was made public four days later, after Public Health declared an outbreak of meningitis at the university. It said one student had died and another case had been identified, but there was no indication of an increased risk to the broader university community.

Since the student's death, CBC News has been contacted by at least two people who say Public Health or the university should have named the disease in the email, and advised students of what symptoms to watch for.

In an emailed statement Tuesday, Dalhousie University says it was following the instructions of Public Health.

"Public Health determines what information should be sent to whom, and at what time, as investigations proceed and accurate information is confirmed," the statement said.

A statement from Nova Scotia's Department of Health said the initial focus of Public Health's investigation was to identify close contacts of the first case while "protecting privacy and confidentiality of those involved."

"Certain steps, like providing early advice and intervention to high-risk contacts, can be taken based on initial results. Other steps, like sharing specific diagnoses or offering vaccines, need to wait for more definitive results," it said in the emailed statement Tuesday.

Vaccine available

Norrie Matthews, whose son Kai died of meningitis at Acadia University last year, said this latest outbreak is devastating.

He said most young Canadians get a vaccine for meningitis while in school, but not for the strain that is causing the outbreak at Dalhousie. He reminded parents a vaccine available for anyone.

"You don't have to be at a high-risk health group, or you don't have to be a close contact. You can get your child, or yourself, vaccinated from meningitis B," said Matthews.

"You can go to a pharmacy and get a vaccine with no prescription needed, or you can go see your doctor and talk to them about it."

Matthews said a full two-dose vaccine for meningitis B costs $300 and it is sometimes covered through private health plans.