Mall Santa Diagnosed as Meningitis Bacteria Carrier

LiberalHeart

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Sat Dec-23-06 06:03 PM
Original message

Mall Santa Diagnosed as Meningitis Bacteria Carrier

Here's the news story based on a health department alert in the Toledo area:

http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5853921

Anybody here know how likely it is kids could have been infected? I'm also wondering what would have caused someone with no symptoms to go to the hospital.

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babylonsister

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Sat Dec-23-06 06:06 PM
Response to Original message

1. Now there's a headline you DON'T want to read! Is this

Edited on Sat Dec-23-06 06:12 PM by babylonsister

in Ohio? Maybe the state forum should see this.

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LiberalHeart

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Sat Dec-23-06 06:20 PM
Response to Original message

2. Just saw another report about this that said...

...this isn't easy to catch via casual contact and if kids have all their immunizations they'll be protected. Isn't it by kindergarten age that they have to have all their immunizations (legally, in order to enroll in school)?

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LifeDuringWartime

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Sat Dec-23-06 07:10 PM
Response to Reply #2

7. not necessarily

i didn't have to get mine until i went to college (in MA)

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OhioChick

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Sat Dec-23-06 09:39 PM
Response to Reply #7

11. You're right......

Kids don't get vaccinated until college here and I'm not sure it's even mandatory.

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rodeodance

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Sat Dec-23-06 06:40 PM
Response to Original message

3. He may have gone to the doc. for another reason only to discover this

problem. just guessing.

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dipsydoodle

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Sat Dec-23-06 06:49 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. I don't believe for one minute

he knew he was a carrier. As you said he may have just been diagnosed by chance. Children are probably more at risk with Hepatitus carriers who don't know they've got it.

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Occulus

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Sun Dec-24-06 02:12 AM
Response to Reply #4

15. Well, now, that's actually untrue

Hapatitis can't be transmitted by casual contact, either. The virus is present in blood, which is why the CDC recommends parents do not chew food for their babies if they are HPV positive. I don't know if it is present in breast milk, but it is present in bodily fluids, including (I think) saliva in small amounts.

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Sapphocrat

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Sat Dec-23-06 06:56 PM
Response to Original message

5. Them damn librul terraists!

It's a REAL War on Christmas now, I tells ya!

(Hey, I'm not laughing -- chances are, you will hear the above from the FReakers!)

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Robbien

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Sat Dec-23-06 07:08 PM
Response to Reply #5

6. Hey, that is exactly what I was thinking

You took that post right out of my keyboard Sapphocrat.

:hi:

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Sapphocrat

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Sat Dec-23-06 10:46 PM
Response to Reply #6

14. Scary, isn't it...

...how conditioned we've become to knowing how their minds work. Or maybe they're just that predictable. :D

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Virginia Dare

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Sat Dec-23-06 07:19 PM
Response to Original message

8. How old is your kid?

they started vaccinating babies about 7 years ago for meningitis.

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LiberalHeart

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Sat Dec-23-06 08:30 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. That's good to know (about babies getting the shots)....

I hope the kids who went to see him were among those getting medical care. It's a mall that would not attact people with dough. In fact, it's listed on deadmalls.com because it really is just about dead. It became a place where kids hung out to cause trouble.

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Lisa

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Sat Dec-23-06 09:28 PM
Response to Original message

10. life imitates an SNL sketch ...

Wasn't there a mock ad on SNL, years ago, for sanitized covers like the kind you can put on toilet seats, so the kids won't catch anything from a dubious mall Santa?

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mainer

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Sat Dec-23-06 09:45 PM
Response to Original message

12. Immunization age depends on which bacteria

Last time I checked, immunizations for meningococcal meningitis are recommended for kids heading to college or any sort of communal living. In infants, they usually immunize against a different kind of meningitis -- hemophilus influenzae.

When kids are exposed to meningococcal carriers, they usually recommend the kids come in for vaccinations at once.

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LiberalHeart

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Sat Dec-23-06 10:31 PM
Response to Reply #12

13. The story's been updated and I notice they're getting little more emphatic...

...about going to the doc ... and they also explain why the guy's in the hospital, despite having no symptoms. He has a respiratory illness. So now I wonder if he was coughing while holding the kids. He worked into the afternoon of the day before he landed in the hospital.

Also wonder if he kissed any of the kids.

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