Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030600
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHILDREN TREATED AFTER CLASSMATE GETS MENINGITIS

Parents and grandparents of the children and five day-care workers also have been given a powerful antibiotic used to treat the disease.

"I think everything is under control," Dr. Molly Hagan, acting director of the Roanoke Health Department, said Monday. "We've already treated the people who are high risk."

Hagan said she was notified by officials at Roanoke Memorial Hospital early Saturday that an 11-month-old boy had been admitted with meningococcal meningitis, one of several types of the disease caused by bacteria. Meningitis also can be caused by viruses, fungi or protozoa.

The disease is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. It can cause extremely high fever, headache, stiff neck, rashes, vomiting and confusion and drowsiness. Early treatment with antibiotics has greatly reduced the chances of death from bacterial meningitis.

Hagan said she met Saturday with officials of the Honeytree Early Learning Center on Patrick Road. She arranged for antibiotics to be given to other children in the class, their teachers and care-givers at home. She notified the children's doctors and sent a letter Monday to parents of children in other classes.

"The other children and workers at Honeytree are not at high risk for contracting this disease and do not need treatment at this time," Hagan said in her letter. "This situation was brought about by outside factors and Honeytree could not have prevented this infection."

The infected infant is doing well, Hagan said.

The incubation period for the disease lasts from two to 10 days, Hagan said.