Kennedy principal: Student diagnosed with meningitis

Kennedy High School parents received an alarming warning Tuesday night: A student at the south Bellmore school has contracted meningococcal meningitis, “a severe bacterial infection of the bloodstream or meninges,” the thin lining of the brain and spinal cord.

Kennedy takes in students from central and south Bellmore and south Merrick.

The warning came in an emailed letter from Kennedy Principal Lorraine Poppe. She did not identify the student or his or her grade. Any student who shared food, drink, a utensil or a cigarette, or kissed or in any way shared nasal or oral secretions with this person 10 days before May 3, must contact a physician immediately to start preventive treatment, Poppe said.

Prophylactic treatment is effective if administered in time, but treatment “administered greater than 14 days after exposure to the individual is of limited or no value,” Poppe wrote. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control, she noted.

Meningitis symptoms include:

•High fever.

•Headache.

•Vomiting.

•Stiff neck.

•Rash.

Symptoms can appear any time between two and 10 days after exposure, and often come on suddenly, according to the CDC.

Casual contact, such as that between students in a classroom, “is not usually significant enough to cause concern,” Poppe said.

Meningitis is caused by the meningococcus germ, which is spread by direct, close contact with nose or throat discharges of an infected person, according to Poppe.

Bacterial meningitis is relatively rare, the CDC’s website states. The agency reported about 4,100 cases of meningitis annually between 2003 to 2007. Of those, about 500 people died each year.

“Bacterial meningitis is very serious and can be deadly,” the CDC states. “Death can occur in as little as a few hours. Most people recover from meningitis. However, permanent disabilities (such as brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities) can result from the infection.”

As of September 2016, all New York State students were required to be vaccinated against meningococcal diseases, including meningitis. According to the Department of Health website, students entering the seventh, eighth and twelfth grades are required to receive the vaccination as a shot.

Bellmore-Merrick Central High School Superintendent John DeTommaso said Wednesday morning that school officials are currently concentrating on the issue at hand and hoping that the student has a speedy recovery, rather than looking into whether the student was vaccinated.

"Honestly, we're just dealing with the situation as it occurs and as we are directed by the Nassau County Department of Health," he said. "I think we may take a look at that after."

The following is taken from the CDC website:

Risk factors

Certain people are at increased risk for bacterial meningitis. Some risk factors include:

•Age

oBabies are at increased risk for bacterial meningitis compared to people in other age groups. However, people of any age can develop bacterial meningitis.

•Community setting

oInfectious diseases tend to spread where large groups of people gather together. College campuses have reported outbreaks of meningococcal disease, caused by N. meningitidis.

•Certain medical conditions

oThere are certain medical conditions, medications and surgical procedures that put people at increased risk for meningitis.

•Working with meningitis-causing pathogens

oMicrobiologists routinely exposed to meningitis-causing bacteria are at increased risk for meningitis.

•Travel

oTravelers may be at increased risk for meningococcal disease, caused by N. meningitidis, if they travel to certain places, such as:

•The meningitis belt in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly during the dry season.

•Mecca during the annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage.

How it spreads

Generally, the germs that cause bacterial meningitis spread from one person to another. Certain germs, such as Listeria monocytogenes, can spread through food.

How people spread the germs often depends on the type of bacteria. It is also important to know that people can carry these bacteria in or on their bodies without being sick. These people are “carriers.” Most carriers never become sick, but can still spread the bacteria to others.

Here are some of the most common examples of how people spread each type of bacteria to each other:

•Mothers can pass group B Streptococcus and Escherichia coli to their babies during labor and birth.

•People spread Hib and Streptococcus pneumoniae by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who breathe in the bacteria.

•People spread Neisseria meningitidis by sharing respiratory or throat secretions (saliva or spit). This typically occurs during close (coughing or kissing) or lengthy (living in the same household) contact.

•People can get Escherichia coli by eating food prepared by people who did not wash their hands well after using the toilet.

People usually get sick from Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes by eating contaminated food.

Diagnosis

If a doctor thinks you have meningitis, they will collect samples of blood or cerebrospinal fluid (fluid near the spinal cord). A laboratory will test the samples to see what is causing the infection. It is important to know the specific cause of meningitis so the doctors know how to treat it.

Patti Wukovits, an East Islip mother who lost her 17-year-old daughter to bacterial meningitis in 2012, said on Wednesday that many parents are unaware that there is a fifth strain of meningitis that the standard, state-mandated vaccine does not protect against.

“They told me in the emergency room what it was, and I said, ‘That’s not possible — she’s been vaccinated,’” Wukovits said in an interview. “But then they told me about [meningitis B].”

“I’m a registered nurse, and I didn’t know about it,” she added.

Wukovits daughter, Kimberly Coffey, was in her last week of senior year at East Islip High School when she contracted and died from the disease. Since then, Wukovits has made it her mission to inform parents about the fifth strain of meningitis, and the separate vaccine necessary to protect against it, founding the Kimberly Coffey Foundation.

According to Wukovits, the meningitis B vaccine was made available in 2014, but is not yet required by the state for students.

“It’s just so important that parents know that their child is not fully protected,” she said. “They need to ask their doctor if their child has been vaccinated for meningitis, and if they say yes, take it a step further and ask if they’ve also received a separate meningitis B vaccine.”

“If it was available for Kimberly back then, I would have had her vaccinated and she would still be here,” Wukovits added. “It was two years too late for her.”