Greyhound bus passenger may have had invasive meningococcal disease

Nevada and Utah health officials are investigating what appears to be a case of invasive meningococcal disease. A Nevada resident traveling on a Greyhound bus from Utah became very ill near West Wendover Sunday and was flown by air ambulance to a Salt Lake area hospital, where he died.

Health officials said he was a young adult between 18 and 25. The leg of the bus ride originated in Salt Lake, but officials were not yet sure where he got on the bus, said Utah Department of Health spokesman Tom Hudachko.

At least one passenger who was seated near the young man has begun a preventive course of antibiotics. Most of the people on the bus do not need treatment, Hudachko said. "With this disease, you need to be in real close contact, and most of the folks who are on a bus are not in that type of close contact."

Others were, including medical personnel in West Wendover, the air ambulance crew that brought the patient to Intermountain Medical Center and the emergency room staff on duty there, Hudachko said.

Nevada Health spokeswoman Martha Framsted said the two states are cooperating to track the man's contacts so that anyone who might need antibiotics gets them. The good news, she said, is no one they've found appears to have symptoms, so it's a preventive step.

Health officials are not sure when they will receive results of a test to determine if it was invasive meningococcal disease, a severe bacterial infection in the blood, spinal fluid or brain. The rare disease is usually an isolated incident. The bacteria do not live long outside the body, which limits potential to harm. And it tends not to be carried on surfaces, so just touching the same areas on the bus is not likely to spread it.

The health experts said "at-risk" people are those in the same household or who have kissed or shared food, for example, or who had direct contact with oral secretions. Symptoms of the infection include high fever, severe headache and stiff neck. They typically develop over a few hours and can cause nausea, vomiting, confusion and sleepiness. It's treatable with specific antibiotics.

The infection can cause various severe side effects, including meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Early indicators are that he died of sepsis, Hudachko said, but autopsy findings are pending.

About 10 cases are reported each year in Utah. A vaccine is available against the most common strains and is recommended for 11- and 12-year-olds during their pre-adolescent checkup. It's also recommended to travelers heading certain places and to college freshmen, particularly if they are living in dorms.

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E-mail: Lois@desnews.com

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