Two of the three most recent cases of bacterial meningitis in Eau Claire are definitely not related, said Jim Ryder, director of the Eau Claire City/County Health Department.

“What we’re looking at is a cluster of unrelated cases,” Ryder said. “Right now we are monitoring the cases very closely with the state.”

Concerns over having symptoms of meningitis, mainly a headache and fever, have brought a flood of people into the emergency room, said Dr. Kirk Dahl of Sacred Heart Hospital.

“The concerns are justified … but we don’t want to suggest that everyone that has a fever and headache has to be checked out,” Dahl said.

On Saturday, a combined 17 spinal taps were conducted at Sacred Heart and Luther Midelfort Hospitals, Dahl said, all of which came back with negative results. Spinal taps are the main test for meningitis. This is a dramatic increase, as most people are coming in to get tested out of fear, Dahl said.

On Friday, Paul Roth, a Chippewa Falls High School junior died from bacterial meningitis. This marks the third case of bacterial meningitis in the area in the past week.

For an actual outbreak to be declared, three cases of the same strain of bacterial meningitis need to occur within three months, said Richard Kark, medical supervisor at Health Services.

“We are really hoping that all the cases are unrelated,” Ryder said.

UW-Eau Claire student Sean Coleman, who died April 21, contracted type C bacterial meningitis. Amanda Gottfredsen, 19, a Chippewa Valley Technical College student is currently hospitalized in fair condition at Sacred Heart Hospital after contracting type Y bacterial meningitis last week.

The type of meningitis that is responsible for the death of the Chippewa Falls student will not be known until about Wednesday, Ryder said.

The case of Amber Krenz, who died in November 2001 after showing symptoms of the disease, is not associated with the recent cases because it occurred too long ago, Kark said.

“The strains are cousins, but they’re not the same bacterium,” Kark said.

The state division of public health, which was looking into the bacterial meningitis cases in Eau Claire, will also be looking into the Chippewa Falls case to see if there is any relation to the Eau Claire cases, Ryder said.

“Right now we are not talking in terms of an outbreak,” Ryder said, but the city/county and state health departments are looking closely at cases that do come up.

In the event of an outbreak of bacterial meningitis, Health Services is prepared to provide vaccinations to all students, Chellman said.

In the event of an outbreak a vaccination is not required, it is highly recommended, Kark said. The vaccination is not strongly recommended because an outbreak has not been determined.

“There is no reason to think (meningitis) will spread,” Kark said. “There is nothing to fear, it is very, very hard to catch.”