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Meningitis claims life of local boy |
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Written by Dave Mabell
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Tuesday, January 20 2009, 10:22 PM |
Health officials are hoping to reassure Lethbridge parents, after a seven-year-old schoolboy died Monday of meningitis.
“We have no indication this is more than an isolated case,” Dr. Vanessa Maclean, acting director of medical health, said Tuesday. “We do not have any indication of other cases in the community.”
Her assurances followed word of the death of a Grade 2 student at Fleetwood-Bawden School, in the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.
Maclean would not discuss details of the boy’s illness or treatment, but expressed her condolences to the family and friends. She withheld the boy’s name.
“We have not been able to identify the micro-organism that caused this particular illness,” she added.
Meningitis, caused by inflammation of the protective membranes covering the spinal cord and brain, can follow either a viral or bacterial infection. Young children receive the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, but it cannot cover all known strains.
“We’ve done our follow-up,” Maclean said. “I want to assure the community we have a very good surveillance system in Alberta.”
Meningitis has become a rare disease, she noted, since introduction of vaccinations covering most of its variants. It can be spread through close contact with another person who’s infected.
With effective medications available for anyone who does contract it, Maclean said deaths are even more rare.
“There is no need for worry or panic in the community,” she said, indicating parents of other children at the boy’s school would already have been contacted if there were any doubts.
For others, however, Maclean listed meningitis symptoms parents should know. Sudden fever, severe headache, stiff neck and nausea are among common indictors among children. Sleeplessness, confusion, a purple or red rash, and a painful reaction to bright light could also mean a trip to emergency.
For infants, health officials list seizures, a high-pitched cry or a bulge (or any change) in the soft spot on top the head as indicators. So can a marked change in behaviour or an unusual lack of appetite.
Meningitis can hit children at any age, they add.
The boy’s mother, who asked names be withheld until funeral arrangements are complete, said Tuesday her son been a healthy child who loved activities at his school. He took ill late last week and was gone within a few days.
She’s hoping to organize a memorial fund, she said, to purchase more playground equipment for Fleetwood-Bawden. Older brothers had also enjoyed their years there.
“It’s just such a great school,” she said. “I want his brothers involved in choosing what he would have liked.”
The funeral will be held Saturday, she added, so teachers and schoolmates will be able to attend.
Speaking for the school district, Superintendent Barry Litun described the death as “a tragedy that is unimaginable.” Grief counsellors are available for students and staff, he added.
Teachers learned of the death Monday, he added, and letters were sent home to advise parents. Chinook Health officials took care of any other follow-up, he said.
Litun said school officials have had few calls from concerned parents. But further information on meningitis is available from doctors or over the phone from Health Link Alberta.
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