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Durham Child's Death Possibly Caused By Meningitis

Duke University Hospital
Duke Medecine

Durham County public health officials are investigating a child's death that may have been because of a case of bacterial meningitis.  The health department says the child was rushed to Duke University Hospital after showing symptoms of the disease Wednesday.
   
Thursday, operators at the daycare the child attended, Mount Zion Christian, closed the school to be cleaned and disinfected.  Public health spokesman Eric Nickens says he wants parents to know that just being around an infected child will not pass the disease along. 

 
"When you're dealing with bacterial meningitis, that is spread by direct contact with oral secretions so activities such as sharing utensils and sharing food would fall into that category," says Nickens.  
 
"You can't get bacterial meningitis by simple casual contact, breathing the air that a six person has been in in the same room."
 
Doctors are still awaiting test results to see if bacterial meningitis is the cause of death.  Nickens says they are already trying to protect other children at the church daycare.
 
"There were nine students who were in close contact with the deceased student and those children have been given preventive antibiotics," Nickens explains.
 
 "In situations like this you don't want to wait for a lab confirmation or anything because it could delay treatment."
 
Daycare operators at Mount Zion Christian Church say they plan to reopen Friday.

Gurnal Scott joined North Carolina Public Radio in March 2012 after several stops in radio and television. After graduating from the College of Charleston in his South Carolina hometown, he began his career in radio there. He started as a sports reporter at News/Talk Radio WTMA and won five Sportscaster of the Year awards. In 1997, Gurnal moved on to television as general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for WCSC-TV in Charleston. He anchored the market's top-rated weekend newscasts until leaving Charleston for Memphis, TN in 2002. Gurnal worked at WPTY-TV for two years before returning to his roots in radio. He joined the staff of Memphis' NewsRadio 600 WREC in 2004 eventually rising to News Director. In 2006, Raleigh news radio station WPTF came calling and he became the station's chief correspondent. Gurnal’s reporting has been honored by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association, the North Carolina Associated Press, and the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas.
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