On Saturday, the Macomb County Health Department in Michigan confirmed the death of a county resident resulting from meningococcal meningitis.
According to The Detroit News, Kristy Malter, a 21 year-old day camp worker at a Lifetime Fitness in Rochester Hills, was hospitalized with the infection last week. After learning of the infection, health officials from Oakland County began notifying the families of more than 200 children who may have been exposed to the infection at the day camp.
According to a statement from health officials, "The Macomb County Health Department and the Oakland County Health Division have been working to identify individuals who had close contact with the case, recommending medical evaluation and preventive treatment with a short course of antibiotics. There have been no additional cases of meningococcal meningitis identified."
Meningococcal meningitis develops from a bacterial infection contracted through lengthy person to person contact — most often due to the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions — and can be fatal. The infection can also cause permanent disabilities like brain damage and hearing loss. Find more information about the disease here.
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