When a deadly outbreak of meningococcal meningitis invaded Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario some clubs paraded around the region with big plans for New Years Eve. Despite calls from the public to reveal the source of the meningitis that had already killed two teenagers, the Medical Officer of Health stood his ground. There would be no revelations coming from his pulpit, at least not yet.

When I saw the bright yellow-green signs stuck in their usual places on hydro poles during finals week in Waterloo, they didn't seem out of place. I assumed that the signs that read Sex & Booze were just promoting a new band that was scheduled to perform over the holidays. The Metropolis is affiliated with the Lyric club across the street, and that club regularly advertises in campus newspapers with free bus service, and fund raising opportunities for entrepreneurial students.

The Metropolis, a relatively new club to downtown Kitchener's night-life had previous problems. Their floor had collapsed soon after it was open.

Within one or two blocks of City Hall are a growing number of bars, clubs, and smoke pits. Only one restaurant in downtown is smoke-free, and that one is in City Hall itself. Many existing restaurants and bistros don't even have designated smoking areas marked off properly. Several complaints have been filed with the Health Department over the years, but they do nothing to improve the situation.

During an outbreak of meningitis second hand smoke becomes a huge factor in its spread. Because workers in bars are much more likely to harbour the deadly bug, Neisseria meningitis, one would think that the health department would have asked for all bar workers to have shots, regardless of their age. My sources tell me that the Health Department never entered into any agreement with bar owners to do that.

Secondly, no clubs had warnings about how meningitis was spread, and only one bar, at Laurier university had any signs up at all. Those signs gave the times and places where their students could get their immunizations. The largest campus pub in the area, Federation Hall at the University of Waterloo, may have contributed to the spread of the outbreak. The last patient diagnosed with the disease came there from out of town, and partied with 1,200 others.

Articles in on paper interviewed some of those who organized party at a campus pub. All they could say was that they broke even, because only three quarters of the intended party folks showed up for their special event. They blamed the fear of the outbreak on their business loss. Pity, eh?

The outbreak is not over, according to at least one local writer. Tens of thousands of our young people in three cities, two universities, and one college have been immunized over the last four weeks, but the outbreak is not over.

While the Sex & Booze signs are no longer seen on the streets next to McDonalds, and the Adult's Only Video store at the corner of King and Columbia, the outbreak of bad taste still remains in my mouth. The grubby little people who own and run the likes of The Metropolis and the Lyric still spread filth and clouds of smoke aimed at our children. If anyone got meningitis while drinking out of "plastic cups", we will never know.

The Medical Officer of Health however let us all know that the last case did come from Fed. Hall. So what the hell is wrong with telling us where the other kids hung out?

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