Three of eight people who contracted invasive meningococcal disease so far this year in Los Angeles County have died, according to the county health department and reported by the Los Angeles Daily News. The three men died in February and March. Two of the men were HIV positive.

Although the department issued a new meningitis vaccine recommendation for men who have sex with men (MSM) on Wednesday, April 2, the agency did not publicly disclose the deaths. Groups such as AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center also were not informed of the deaths.

Since October 2012, MSM represent about a third of the 32 bacterial meningitis cases in the county. From 2010 to 2013, a total of 22 men contracted meningitis in New York City and seven of them died. In September 2013, an NYC health official claimed the local MSM meningitis outbreak had stopped.

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