Life Time Fitness in Rochester Hills sent an email notifying its members.
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According to a press release from the Oakland County Health Division, officials from the division were notified Wednesday of a “Lifetime Fitness day camp employee in Rochester Hills with bacterial meningitis who is a Macomb County resident”.
Malter was a 2013 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School in Pontiac.
Mary Kate Zinn said: Sending thoughts, prayers and everything else from the whole camp staff at Troy lifetime fitness..
Children are the most at risk of being impacted by the infection, said George Miller Jr., director of the Oakland County Health and Human Services. The CDC describes the illness “very serious” and potentially lethal, stating on its website that “Death can occur in as little as a few hours”.
The people who may have had contact with Malter include those who attended day camp or were known to have worked with her.
“The disease is not spread through casual contact or by simply being in the same room as an infected person”, said Kathy Forzley, manager/health officer of the Health Division. Those who had contact with the affected individual will be advised to seek post-exposure treatments, even if they previously received vaccinations, according to the Health Division.
Symptoms include: A sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck, confusion, and sometimes a rash.
The disease can spread by “exchanging of respiratory and throat secretions (saliva or spit) during close (for example, coughing or kissing) or lengthy contact, especially if living in the same household”.
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid surrounding a person’s brain and spinal cord. “If exposed, the incubation period is one to 10 days”, she said in a statement.
Those who may have been exposed could begin to develop symptoms of meningococcal disease at any time through July 21, according to the Health Division.
“We are still working to get all those who had contact with the patient in question on antibiotics”, Miller said. More than 200 children are believed to have come in contact with Malter.
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Bacterial meningitis can be treated with a number of antibiotics.
