Cape Cod Girl Dies from Bacterial Meningitis

February 19, 2002

February 19, 2002

Mashpee girl dies of meningitis

MASHPEE - A Mashpee High School seventh-grader died early this morning in

Massachusetts General Hospital of what is believed to be bacterial meningitis.

Pamela Barberio, 12, first came down Friday with symptoms that include

nausea, neck pain, a persistent head ache, and fever, said Mashpee Health

Agent Glen Harrington. He said he is still trying to confirm the exact type

of meningitis, but he believes it's bacterial meningitis rather than the less

dangerous viral form.Barberio had a fever on Sunday and was taken to Falmouth

Hospital after she began vomiting on Monday. She was transferred to

Massachusetts General Hospital at 10 p.m. and died this morning.This type of

meningitis is fatal in 10 to 12 percent of the cases. In Massachusetts,

between 5 and 10 people die in an average year and about 100 to 150 people

are infected, according to the state Department of Public Health. Bacterial

meningitis is contagious through saliva but not easily spread. The state

agency advises that parents put their child on antibiotics if there is any

possibility that the child has come into close contact with the victim. Such

" contact " may include sharing a water bottle, a piece of pizza, lip gloss or

eating utensils. Contact could also be made if the infected child sneezed on

another person.Mashpee School Supt. Sherwood Fluery is notifying anyone who

may have come into close contact with Barberio in the past two weeks to

contact a doctor. That job is complicated by the fact that the high school -

and other Cape schools - are closed this week for February vacation and many

families as well as school staff are away.There have been seven confirmed

cases of bacterial meningitis this year in Massachusetts, said DPH spokesman

Roseanne Pawelec. At least one other person, an 11-year old boy in the New

Bedford area, is believed to have died of meningitis over the weekend, though

the state has not completed testing to confirm the cause of death. He was

living in a group home run by the Department of Social Services. The state

also is testing to see if Barberio had bacterial meningitis, Pawalec said.

None of the cases are related, she said.Over the weekend, another case of

meningitis surfaced in Massachusetts. A 19-year-old freshman at the

University of New Hampshire, who lives in a dormitory there, sought care in

his hometown in New Hampshire, then was transferred to the University of

Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester in very serious condition.

- By <A HREF= " mailto:kcmyers@... " >K.C. Myers</A>

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