Lompoc man dies of fungal meningitis

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Lompoc man dies of fungal meningitis

By Neil Nisperos/Staff Writer

http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2007/03/21/news/featurednews/new

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Lompoc Record - Lompoc,CA

A double case of bacterial meningitis at Fillmore Elementary School

last week came about three weeks after a Lompoc man died of another

form of meningitis.

The man, a 48-year-old former employee at Celite, was diagnosed with

fungal meningitis in January by doctors at Santa Barbara Cottage

Hospital. He died on Feb. 22.

His wife, who declined to be identified, said her husband complained

of difficulty breathing, weakness in his limbs, partial loss of

sight and hearing. At one point, she said, he forgot who he was for

a short period.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain

and spinal cord and can be caused by a virus, bacteria or fungus.

Fungal meningitis, or cryptococcal meningitis, is not communicable

person to person, unlike bacterial meningitis. The kindergarten boy

and pre-school girl contracted bacteria meningitis, which can be

communicable between people through salivary contact.

Paige Batson, a disease control official at Santa Barbara County

Public Health Department, said infection of fungal meningitis is

very rare, but the disease can be contracted by the inhalation of

its isolated fungus particles from old pigeon droppings or soil.

" It's an infection that can occur sporadically, but it's not

something we see a lot of, " Batson said.

Tom Hansen, president of Chemical Workers Union at Celite, said he

had not heard of the employee's death, but that the plant's

cleanliness has been a concern of workers for some time.

A spokesman for Celite did not a phone call.

In cases of bacterial meningitis, health department officials

investigate the infected person's known contacts and then advises

them to take preventative antibiotic medication. Because fungal

meningitis isn't communicable between people, Batson said these

types of cases do not receive the same response officials took with

contacts of the children.

" The specific organism causing the meningitis dictates the kind of

follow-up intervention from the Public Health Department, " Batson

said. " The protocols vary depending on the organism causing the

meningitis. Because it is fungal, we simply report it to the state.

It's not communicable from person to person and there wouldn't be

the need for any contact follow-up. "

School officials said the boy is back in his kindergarten class and

the girl is recovering. Both were treated with antibiotics for

bacterial meningitis infections. Lompoc school district senior

health official Bob Altavilla said Tuesday there have been no other

cases of meningitis at the school and the situation is under control.

The 5-year-old girl was attending a nondistrict Head Start school on

the Fillmore campus and had no contact with older students. She

contracted the disease during the weekend of March 9, officials

said. Parents were notified of the two cases of meningitis after her

5-year-old brother was diagnosed the following Thursday.

Parents of children who had contact with the siblings were advised

by the Health Department to take their kids to a physician to

receive preventative antibiotic treatment.

Neil Nisperos can be reached at 737-1059 or nnisperos@lompoc

record.com.

March 21, 2007