Meningococcal Vaccination for Gay and Bisexual Men
Outbreaks of meningitis have occurred among gay men in some US cities. Immunization can prevent brain, lung, and blood infection due to meningococcal bacteria (Neisseria meningitidis).
Learn more about meningococcal disease and how to prevent it.
The best place to be vaccinated is at your doctor’s office. If you do not have a medical provider, find out where you can go for drop-in vaccination services in San Francisco.
Pregnant? Get Vaccinated to Protect Your Baby from Pertussis
Pertussis (Whooping Cough) is an easily spread infectious disease. It can cause coughing fits that make it hard to breathe. Young babies can get very sick, very fast if they get pertussis. Vaccination is the best way to prevent pertussis. The pertussis vaccine for adolescents and adults is called Tdap.
- Pregnant women need a Tdap shot during their third trimester of pregnancy (27 – 36 weeks), even if they were vaccinated before pregnancy.
Preventing a Hepatitis A Outbreak in San Francisco
In 2017, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles counties experienced outbreaks of hepatitis A infection, primarily among homeless persons and/or users of injection and non-injection drugs. Several cases with the same strain of hepatitis A infection appeared in other California counties. There have been no cases of hepatitis A recently among these same populations in San Francisco.