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Vermilion County child displays symptoms of meningitis
By Pat Phillips
Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:30 AM CDT
DANVILLE ? Vermilion County Public Health Administrator Steve Laker announced Wednesday that a preschool-age child was taken to Hoopeston Community Memorial Hospital on Sept. 14 showing symptoms of meningitis.
The child was transferred the same day to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.
"The child presented critical symptoms and was transferred to a facility with a higher level of care," said Dr. Victor Garber, director of emergency medical services at the Hoopeston hospital. He said he could not give any specifics of the case due to patient confidentiality but rather wanted to inform the public that meningitis is rare. "It usually presents singly, but once in a while in clusters," he said. "For children, they will look very sick, may have a high fever, be lethargic and vomiting. This is not your typical flu or cold symptoms. They may have an altered mental status."
He said smaller children may become irritable when held because the lifting is painful and therefore the child is not comforted.
"Our job is to evaluate the patient, stabilize them with fluids, steroids, antibiotics and ease breathing, if necessary, then get them to a tertiary center of higher care," Garber said.
The disease may not spread, but Garber recommended persons coming in contact with a victim should see a doctor or hospital for a single dose of antibiotic.
"It's rare for it to spread after 10 days since exposure, but we recommend an antibiotic within 14 days to be on the safe side," he said.
The case has not been confirmed as yet.
"This is being treated as a suspect case," Laker said. "Confirmation is done by a bacterial culture, but if a patient has been treated by an antibiotic, it may not give a positive culture."
At this point, Laker said, the health department's job is to try identify a source and anyone who may be at risk from contact with the child.
"It is a preschool child, which means you have more information at your disposable," he said. "With a young child, you generally know where they've been, how long, who they were with, but even so, we may not be able to identify an exact source."
Those at risk are advised to get the appropriate antibiotic, watch for symptoms and seek immediate medical attention should symptoms present themselves.
Bacterial meningitis can be spread through direct contact with nose and throat secretions. Healthy persons, who have no signs of illness, can have the bacteria in their nose or throat and spread them to others. Sharing a glass, cup or eating utensil, coughing or sneezing into the face of another person or sharing a cigarette are examples of how contact with another person's respiratory secretions might occur, according to public health officials.
The Illinois Department of Public Health states that meningitis can produce mild symptoms ? such as headache, low-grade fever and fatigue lasting two to three days ? in some patients. In others, the symptoms can be severe and begin suddenly with fever, headache and stiff neck. In newborns and infants, the classic symptoms may not be present. Infants may only be listless, irritable and sleepy, with loss of appetite.
Vermilion County last reported two cases of bacterial meningitis in the summer of 2007, when one individual died.
Before antibiotics were widely used, 70 percent or more of bacterial meningitis cases were fatal. With antibiotic treatment, the fatality rate has dropped to 15 percent or less. The disease is most common in the winter and spring.
More information on meningitis is available at the Vermilion County Web site, www.vchd.org or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html.
Vermilion County child displays symptoms of meningitis
By Pat Phillips
Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:30 AM CDT
DANVILLE ? Vermilion County Public Health Administrator Steve Laker announced Wednesday that a preschool-age child was taken to Hoopeston Community Memorial Hospital on Sept. 14 showing symptoms of meningitis.
The child was transferred the same day to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.
"The child presented critical symptoms and was transferred to a facility with a higher level of care," said Dr. Victor Garber, director of emergency medical services at the Hoopeston hospital. He said he could not give any specifics of the case due to patient confidentiality but rather wanted to inform the public that meningitis is rare. "It usually presents singly, but once in a while in clusters," he said. "For children, they will look very sick, may have a high fever, be lethargic and vomiting. This is not your typical flu or cold symptoms. They may have an altered mental status."
He said smaller children may become irritable when held because the lifting is painful and therefore the child is not comforted.
"Our job is to evaluate the patient, stabilize them with fluids, steroids, antibiotics and ease breathing, if necessary, then get them to a tertiary center of higher care," Garber said.
The disease may not spread, but Garber recommended persons coming in contact with a victim should see a doctor or hospital for a single dose of antibiotic.
"It's rare for it to spread after 10 days since exposure, but we recommend an antibiotic within 14 days to be on the safe side," he said.
The case has not been confirmed as yet.
"This is being treated as a suspect case," Laker said. "Confirmation is done by a bacterial culture, but if a patient has been treated by an antibiotic, it may not give a positive culture."
At this point, Laker said, the health department's job is to try identify a source and anyone who may be at risk from contact with the child.
"It is a preschool child, which means you have more information at your disposable," he said. "With a young child, you generally know where they've been, how long, who they were with, but even so, we may not be able to identify an exact source."
Those at risk are advised to get the appropriate antibiotic, watch for symptoms and seek immediate medical attention should symptoms present themselves.
Bacterial meningitis can be spread through direct contact with nose and throat secretions. Healthy persons, who have no signs of illness, can have the bacteria in their nose or throat and spread them to others. Sharing a glass, cup or eating utensil, coughing or sneezing into the face of another person or sharing a cigarette are examples of how contact with another person's respiratory secretions might occur, according to public health officials.
The Illinois Department of Public Health states that meningitis can produce mild symptoms ? such as headache, low-grade fever and fatigue lasting two to three days ? in some patients. In others, the symptoms can be severe and begin suddenly with fever, headache and stiff neck. In newborns and infants, the classic symptoms may not be present. Infants may only be listless, irritable and sleepy, with loss of appetite.
Vermilion County last reported two cases of bacterial meningitis in the summer of 2007, when one individual died.
Before antibiotics were widely used, 70 percent or more of bacterial meningitis cases were fatal. With antibiotic treatment, the fatality rate has dropped to 15 percent or less. The disease is most common in the winter and spring.
More information on meningitis is available at the Vermilion County Web site, www.vchd.org or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html.