A child from Frazier Park has been diagnosed with the viral form of meningitis. According to research conducted by The Mountain Enteprise on Tuesday, Aug. 14, the diagnosis was confirmed at Northridge Hospital and reported to Los Angeles County Health Services Department on August 8. On August 9 a notice was faxed by L.A. County to Kern County Department of Public Health Services.

Efforts to confirm the diagnosis with Kern County were hampered by the fact that the notification had been "put in a stack of faxes" while a key public health nurse was on vacation according to Dr. Boyce Dulan, M.D., Director of Disease Control. He said in an interview Tuesday that "it was viral, not bacterial, so it was put aside."

Kern County Public Health Nurse Kitty Berchtold said that "if you or a family member has a very high fever, vomiting and a stiff neck, go to an emergency room. You have no way of knowing whether it is bacterial Meningiccocal meningitis which needs treatment with antibiotics right away." Diagnosis is confirmed by drawing spinal fluid. She went on to say that the late summer and early fall are "viral meningitis season," and that it is not uncommon to see several cases at that time.

"For most people, there are no symptoms or mild flu-like symptom with viral meningitis. Only one in a thousand will come down with the disease. My own niece had meningitis but no one else in contact with her came down with the illness."

The Mountain Enterprise responded to reports of concerned parents whose children had been playing with the sick child at a birthday party during Fiesta Days weekend.

After reporters’ inquiries to Kern County, Los Angeles County, the Center for Disease Control and the hospital in Northridge, the missing paperwork was located and it was confirmed that the "chain of notification" procedure for communicable diseases had not been broken in this case, but put into a low priority status below the radar of the county authorities.

Reported by Patric Hedlund with additional research by Gary Meyer

This is part of the August 17, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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