Deadly meningitis hits Paoli family twice

By Julie Bisbee

Published: April 15, 2008

PAOLI — The grandmother of a 12-year-old Paoli girl who died of meningitis has also died from the highly contagious disease.

Health officials confirmed that Darlene Campbell, 75, died April 7. Her granddaughter, Alyssa Nichole Campbell, died from meningitis April 5.

State and local health officials say despite the recent deaths, there's no public health threat.

Darlene Campbell was among family members tested for meningitis, but was not given antibiotics, said Joleyne Temple, district nurse at the Garvin County Health Department.

"The family never said she had a risk of being exposed,” Temple said.

Other members of the Campbell family were given antibiotics to take in case they had been exposed to meningitis, Temple said.

There is no public health risk to residents in Garvin County and it's unclear whether Darlene Campbell's illness was connected to her granddaughter's death, Temple said.

The bacteria that cause meningitis can live in a person's nasal and throat passages for up to 10 days before symptoms show up, said Laurence Burnsed, director of the state Health Department's communicable disease division.

Symptoms, which include vomiting, high fever and rash, often show up three to four days after a person has been exposed to the bacteria, Burnsed said.

While the bacteria strain that causes meningitis is common, cases of the disease in Oklahoma are rare. In the past five years, the state has had an average of 18 cases per year, Burnsed said. Darlene Campbell is the third person in the state to die from meningococcal disease this year, officials said.

There is a vaccine for meningitis, and it covers four variations of the disease that account for about 70 percent of the cases, Burnsed said.

Kissing, sharing drinks or other close contact can spread the disease, which is transmitted through droplets.

"Hand hygiene is very important,” Burnsed said. "Anybody can really get the meningococcal disease, especially those who have compromised immune systems.”