Republic Student Sick With Meningitis High School Junior In Spokane Hospital; Dozens Get Antibiotics

A Republic High School junior is hospitalized with the same strain of bacterial meningitis that killed a Coeur d’Alene girl less than two weeks ago.

Micah Brisbane, who will turn 17 in two weeks, was in serious but stable condition Friday night at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

He was heavily sedated because of pain, but was not in a coma as is widely believed by Republic residents, said his parents, Mike and Donna Brisbane.

Speaking through a hospital spokesman, the couple declined to elaborate on their son’s condition.

Brisbane quickly became ill Wednesday with what his family at first thought was the flu. He was taken to Republic Memorial Hospital that night and was flown to Sacred Heart about 1 a.m. Thursday.

Officials said no one else in Republic was reporting symptoms of the disease by Friday evening.

Symptoms, which mimic influenza, include sudden fever, intense headache, nausea and, often, vomiting, stiff neck and rash.

Meningitis inflames the brain and spinal cord, and can damage soft tissues enough to require amputation. Without treatment, it is fatal 50 percent of the time. Even with treatment, experts say 5 percent to 10 percent of meningitis victims die.

Coeur d’Alene High School senior Briana Ross, 17, died Sept. 24, just a few days after she became ill. Earlier this year, meningitis killed a 15-year-old Wieppe, Idaho, boy and forced the amputation of both legs of a University of Idaho student from Nampa, Idaho.

Dorothy McBride, community health director of the Northeast Tri-County Health District, said about 30 students at Republic Junior and Senior High School may have been exposed. They were treated with a powerful antibiotic as a precaution.

Only those who had close contact with Brisbane that may have resulted in an exchange of saliva are at risk, McBride said. Kissing or sharing food, drink or eating utensils are the most common ways the disease is spread.

Among those who may have been exposed at the Republic school, “sharing food was a huge part of it,” McBride said.

“This was a teachable moment, and we took the opportunity to teach about the dangers of sharing food and sharing pop,” said Nancy Giddings, principal of Republic’s three schools.

“I was really concerned about panic, but I was really impressed with how our kids handled the seriousness of the situation,” she said Friday. “I thought they did just an outstanding job of keeping a level-head, but it was a tough day.”

Not only were the 308 students in the junior and senior high schools afraid of catching the meningitis, “but there was the fact that their very good friend is seriously ill,” Giddings said. In a small school district like Republic - there are 585 students in all grades - everyone knows everyone else.

“Micah was in my kindergarten class,” said Giddings, who was an elementary teacher until being promoted to principal last year.

With the help of Judy Hutton, the health district nurse assigned to Republic, school officials distributed a letter Thursday warning the district’s students and parents to watch for symptoms. Junior and senior high students, who are in a separate building, were asked to report any close contact with Brisbane.

Hutton screened those who might have been exposed and gave them antibiotics.

“I think people feel pretty secure with the medication,” Giddings said.

McBride said health officials don’t know how Brisbane contracted meningitis, but the bacteria that causes it is common. She said 5 percent to 15 percent of the population carries the bacteria without getting the disease.

, DataTimes