Health Dept.:Jefferson County resident dies of meningitis

By The Associated Press - 04/12/2008

HELENA (AP) — State health officials say a Jefferson County resident has died of meningitis.

Bonnie Barnard, an epidemiologist with the Department of Public Health and Human Services, says meningococcal disease is infrequent, very serious and not easily transmitted.

She says the onset of the bacterial disease is sudden, with symptoms of high fever, headache, stiff neck or a dark purple rash and progresses rapidly. The majority of victims recover from the disease, but it causes death in about 10 percent of cases. The disease is spread by respiratory droplets.

Barnard says people who had been in close contact with the victim have been notified by the health department and told about preventive antibiotics.

The Jefferson County victim died on Sunday at a hospital in Helena. The health department can’t release any more information about the victim because of federal privacy laws.