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Article: Minn. illnesses worry CDC officials
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- January 23, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (Hide copyright information)
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Five Minnesota children have grown sick _ and one of them died _ from a germ that can cause meningitis, causing U.S. health officials to warn of the importance of a common childhood vaccine.
The Hib vaccine, which is given to babies, has succeeded in reducing U.S. cases of the bacterial illness to about only 20 a year in children younger than 5. But a cluster of five cases occurred in central Minnesota last year in young children. One child, who was 7 months old, died of meningitis in November.
No other states have reported such an increase. But Minnesota's disease surveillance is unusually good, so problems in other states could be developing, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of ...