California: Hoover School teacher dies unexpectedly - meningitis suspected

[Ronan Kelly]

Hoover School teacher dies unexpectedly Sunday
Citing possibility of meningococcal disease, health department meets with parents

by Chris Kenrick
Palo Alto Online Staff



A fifth-grade teacher at Hoover Elementary School died in a hospital over the weekend after cold- and flu-like symptoms developed into a severe infection, school district officials said.

George Flath, a teacher at Hoover since 1994, was 43. He taught his class as usual last Friday (Jan. 28) and was hospitalized Saturday morning.

A cause of death has not been determined, but school officials said tests were underway to explore the possibility of meningococcal disease.

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http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=19896

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: California: Hoover School teacher dies unexpectedly - meningitis suspected

Parents, students mourn teacher's death from illness

Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Lilian Kim

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Parents and students are mourning the sudden death of a popular teacher at a Palo Alto elementary school. A bacterial infection is believed to be the cause of death and because of that precautions are being taken to protect his students.

"It's just hard to overcome his passing away," says student Anita Mukherjee.

Mukherjee is a 5th grader at Hoover Elementary School in Palo Alto. She learned this morning that her beloved teacher, 43-year-old George Flath, died suddenly over the weekend.

"It seems like it is fake and you can't believe it," says student Mukherjee.
School administrators say Flath had a cold on Friday, but felt well enough to come to work. Then on Saturday, Flath developed a high fever, and died at the hospital the next day. Public health officers suspect meningococcal disease -- a severe bacterial infection of the bloodstream.

More...
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=7931977