CDC warns of invasive bacterial outbreak amid spike in cases and fatality rates: 'Rare but severe'

An invasive bacterial infection is on the rise in the U.S., according to an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Cases of meningococcal disease, mainly caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, reached 422 last year, the highest annual number of cases reported since 2014, the agency stated in the alert. So far this year, 143 cases have been reported to the CDC , which is 62 more than the number reported at the same time last year.

The invasive strain that is causing most of the cases — serogroup Y ST-1466 — primarily affects adults between ages 30 and 60 , the CDC said in its report. Also affected are Black or African American people and people with HIV , the CDC said. This strain also appears to have a higher fatality rate than strains from previous years. Of 94 patients, 17 of them died from the infection, which is a fatality rate of 18%. Between 2017 and 2021, the fatality rate was 11%.

One in five survivors can experience long-term disabilities such as deafness, brain damage, limb loss or other nervous system problems. 'I think this is a concern, especially because of the steep rise in cases all of a sudden and because this particular strain has had a higher case fatality than in previous increases of this disease,' Dr. Barbara Bawer, a primary care physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Fox News Digital.

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