Saturday, March 3, 2001

Bill takes aim at frightening, deadly disease

AUSTIN - Two-month-old Zachary lay still on the doctor's examination table, suffering from high fever, vomiting and lethargy. The doctor knew such symptoms could be serious - especially for a 15-pound infant.
   After checking for ear infections and reviewing an X-ray of the boy's chest, the doctor advised the mother to get him to the hospital.
   At the hospital, doctors examined the infant and then whisked him away - out of sight of his parents. They said they needed to run tests for meningitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the lining of the brain.
   But was it viral meningitis or the more deadly bacterial meningitis? Behind closed doors, doctors began a spinal tap, or lumbar puncture, a procedure to examine the spinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.
   After about two hours, the doctors said they couldn't officially rule out bacterial meningitis. They began antibiotics and monitored the boy closely.
   It turned out to be viral meningitis and the boy recovered without damage. That two-month-old boy was my son, who went home after a two-day stay in the hospital.
   But six years later, Zachary was back in the hospital with similar symptoms. Again, it was viral meningitis. And again, he recovered from it.
   Zachary was fortunate. Others haven't been so fortunate - and that's why a bill by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini is so important this legislative session. The Laredo Democrat's bill is intended to prevent the spread of bacterial meningitis by educating Texas families about prevention efforts and the seriousness of the disease.
   The Senate recently approved the bill and sent it to the House for consideration. State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, is sponsoring the legislation in the House.
   If approved by the Legislature, the law would require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency to make sure college students, schoolchildren and parents receive information about meningitis. This would include information about the availability, effectiveness and side effects of vaccines - and about the symptoms and risks of contracting the disease.
   Spreading the word about meningitis is important - especially in light of recent meningitis cases in Houston and other parts of the state. Forty-four cases of bacterial meningitis have been confirmed in the Houston area since Oct. 1 - including five deaths, according to the Texas Department of Health. Two cases have been confirmed in Nueces County. Between 1990 and 1999, 1,623 health officials confirmed cases 1,623 of bacterial meningitis, an average of 162 per year.
   "The numbers reported by the Texas Department of Health may not sound alarming, but given the lifelong damage and suffering that meningitis causes families and their children, even one case of meningitis is too many," Zaffirini said.
   At a recent state Senate Committee on Health and Human Services hearing, the devastation caused by meningitis poured out of the hearts of families affected by the disease.
   Clarissa Hansen of Arlington spoke about her shock and sadness at the death of her son, Jason, after he contracted the disease on his first day at college. Conroe resident Frankie Milley spoke about her son, Ryan, who died 14 hours after he contracted meningitis. Ryan had graduated from high school two months earlier.
   The parents and relatives who spoke were unaware of vaccines available when their children contracted the disease. Educating people about the availability of a vaccine is a prime goal of Zaffirini's bill.
   "As the mother of an 18-year-old college freshman, I can't imagine losing a child to a disease for which there is a vaccine," Zaffirini said. "I would be outraged to realize after the fact that an inoculation was available.''
   This legislation will give parents the knowledge to combat this potentially deadly disease - and, in the end, prevent many unnecessary deaths in Texas.
   (Ty Meighan is chief of the Scripps Howard Austin Bureau and can be reached at (512) 334-6640 or by email at meighant@scripps.com)
  
  

---

Ty Meighan is chief of the Scripps Howard Austin Bureau. You can reach him by phone at (512) 334-6640 or by email at meighant@scripps.com.

| Discuss about birdwatching | | Home |

---

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

---

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

---

2000 Caller-Times Publishing Company, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.