A recent meningitis outbreak has sickened dozens of members of the Los Angeles county’s gay community. Researchers are now trying to figure out why the potentially fatal disease affects mostly gay and bisexual men in the area.

So far, county health authorities confirmed that 17 patients have been diagnosed with invasive meningococcal disease. Of these patients, a dozen were diagnosed over the last two months. Eight patients were gay or bisexual men.

Officials at the L.A. County Department of Public Health noted that the disease disproportionally affects males who are either gay of bisexual. Authorities couldn’t tell why there are so many infections among the gay community.

In the L.A. County, there are about 300,000 openly gay or bisexual men among a 10 million population. In June, authorities said that at least one man died from the infection in Orange County where five more people contracted the disease and one more patient died since January.

To date, there were no reported deaths in the L.A. County.

Health authorities are urging gay and bisexual men to vaccinate against the disease. Shots will be available for free regardless whether the recipient is insured or not. The LA LGBT Center and AIDS Healthcare Foundation said that they will too provide free shots.

Los Angeles LGBT Center urged any gay, bisexual man or transgender woman to get the meningococcal vaccine.

Doctors explained that the condition, which is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria meningitidis, can lead to hearing loss, paralysis, epilepsy and even death very rapidly. You can get the disease through saliva. So high risk activities include sneezing, coughing, kissing, and sharing cigarettes or drinks.

It takes a few days for symptoms to emerge which can include migraines, muscle pain, fever, nausea, confusion, and stiff neck.

Doctors first thought that gay and bisexual men may be at a higher risk due to an underlying HIV infection. AIDS patients have weakened immune systems which can make them more susceptible to various types of infections and diseases.

However, according to the L.A. County Acute Communicable Disease Control Program, just one of the 17 patients who now have the infection is HIV-positive. County health officials advise all gay and bisexual men who had more than one sex partner or who are frequent users of gay dating apps to get immunized. And so should HIV/AIDS patients.

A similar outbreak resulted in the deaths of three gay men two years ago, authorities noted.

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