The Modesto Bee printed a story on May 23, 2000 stating that county health officials are "alarmed at the high number of cases of infection this year." That attribution is not accurate and health officials are issuing this clarification so the public is not alarmed.

Stanislaus County has had 15 cases of Meningococcal Meningitis in 2000. Most cases ordinarily occur during the months of January and February, which has held true during 2000. Stanislaus County had 10 cases of Meningococcal Meningitis during January and February and has seen a few sporadic cases during March, April and May.

The total number of cases is still within a normal range.

"Meningitis is a serious disease and people need to be aware of the signs and symptoms," stated Roselyn Cunningham, communicable disease nurse for the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency. "But right now our total cases continue to run within a normal range for Stanislaus County," she continued.

The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency (HSA) is an outpatient medical system with 9 medical offices located throughout Stanislaus County. The HSA operates the Public Health Department, an Urgent Care Center and multiple programs serving over 400,000 patients and clients each year in Stanislaus County. The HSA also is in local partnerships for the MOMobile project and the Stanislaus Family Practice Residency Program. The HSA has extensive community health information available at its web site www.schsa.org