Kids Get Pills For Meningitis

Hayden Meadows third-grader Amanda Brouillard says she’s happy to take the little red antibiotic capsules handed out at school Tuesday.

Swallowing a few pills is much better than coming down with bacterial meningitis, she said. The disease has infected three students at the school in recent weeks.

“I didn’t want to get sick,” Brouillard said.

The third-grader was among more than 100 children, accompanied by nervous parents, who picked up envelopes of antibiotics Tuesday in the first hour of a two-day distribution clinic.

Panhandle Health District nurses handed out free doses of Rifampin, an antibiotic, to all Hayden Meadows students, staff members and Hayden School PLUS participants wishing to be protected against bacterial meningitis. The nurses will be back at the school today from 3:30 to 7 p.m. to distribute more medication.

“It worries me,” said Cathy Thornbrugh, who has a 7-year-old daughter at the school. “It worries me enough that I’m here.”

In December, a Coeur d’Alene woman died and two other people were hospitalized after contracting bacterial meningitis. One of those hospitalized was a 6-year-old student from Hayden Meadows, who has since recovered and returned to school.

Earlier this month, a 6-year-old and a 7-year old came down with the illness. One of the children is a Hayden Meadows student who shared a classroom with the student infected in December. The other child is a student at Dalton Elementary School who attends the Hayden School PLUS program, a before- and after-school program serving students from Hayden Meadows, Hayden Lake, Ramsey and Dalton elementary schools.

“We’re trying to lower the normal carriage rate in this population,” said Marie Rau, public health nursing supervisor for the Panhandle Health District. “People who take it, it will kill off the bugs in their system.”

As many as 900 people may have been exposed to the illness, which infects the fluid around the brain and spinal cord. The health district spent about $5,000 on the preventative medication, Rau said.

Meningitis can be caused by a virus or a bacterium, with viral meningitis generally being less severe. Bacterial meningitis can cause brain damage, hearing loss, learning disabilities and, in about 15 percent of cases, death.

Between 5 percent and 25 percent of the population carries the bacterium that causes the ailment. It is spread by fluids in the nose and mouth and is passed on only through close, prolonged contact such as sharing food, drinks or cigarettes, health officials say.

Symptoms of bacterial meningitis include fever, rash, severe headaches, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting.

Phones at Hayden Meadows Elementary and the Coeur d’Alene School District offices rang almost nonstop Tuesday as anxious parents called with questions.

“Is this true? Is this serious? What are they going to do about it?” Principal Keith Jones said were common questions. “They’re concerned for the safety of their youngsters.”

Rifampin must be taken twice a day for two days, preferably 12 hours apart. It is best taken with a full glass of water on an empty stomach.

The antibiotic causes the urine, stool, saliva, sputum, sweat and tears to turn reddish orange to reddish brown.

“Cool,” one student said when a nurse told him of the side effect.

Any other side effects of the medication, including chills, nausea, fever, and dizziness, should be reported to a doctor, health officials said.

Shelley Booth, who has a second-grader at Hayden Meadows, said she did not hesitate to bring her son in for the antibiotics.

“They said to give him medicine and we’ll give him medicine,” Booth said. “We don’t want him to get it.”

But Booth’s son, Jared, was not very pleased to get his packet of antibiotics.

“I don’t like it,” he said.

“It’s kind of scary for him to think there’s something bad he could catch,” Shelley Booth said.

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Panhandle Health District nurses will be back at Hayden Meadows Elementary School today from 3:30 to 7 p.m. to distribute antibiotics to children weighing less than 70 pounds and those who didn’t receive medication Tuesday.