LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: A federal health official is in a small town in Northeastern Ohio today, ground zero of a meningitis scare. Folks in Alliance, Ohio are so edgy, some of them refused to share a pen to sign up for antibiotics. This follows the deaths of two teenagers of a bacterial infection. Another teenager is in serious condition. Correspondent Dave Nethers of our Cleveland affiliate WJW is in Alliance. How bad is it, Dave?</s>DAVE NETHERS, WJW REPORTER: Well, Lou, actually, I think the hysteria is probably more a factor here than the actual disease itself. A CDC expert who is in town here has been meeting with the local health officials since arriving here in the last two hours. And he will determine this afternoon whether or not there will be a community-wide vaccination. In the meantime, the distribution of preventative antibiotics continues this afternoon, well beyond the announced 9:00 a.m. cutoff. Since Saturday, 37,000 people have lined up to get antibiotic tablets, concerned over the possible spread of this rapidly progressive and potentially deadly disease. Two students who died, both are from the same high school. They may have shared a water bottle at a picnic. The student who remains hospitalized attended a different high school than the others, but first became ill, coincidentally, by attending the funeral of one of the other victims. The CDC expert is going be going over the clinical data of the student who is still hospitalized this afternoon, trying to determine whether or not that vaccination is warranted. In the meantime, health experts have been trying to calm the concern here, trying to tell people that their chance of actually getting this disease is extraordinarily small. But these people have still been showing up here to get their antibiotics because they would rather be safe than sorry. Reporting from Alliance, Ohio, I am Dave Nethers -- Lou, back to you.</s>WATERS: OK, Dave, thanks very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Meningitis Scare Rocks Small Ohio Town