Teenager, Counselor die of Meningitis

A 17-year-old student at the Massapequa High School died of meningococcal meningitis on Thursday, the Nassau County Department of Health said in a statement. Health officials have asserted preventive medication for all those people who had close contact with him.

The deceased, Mike Gruber, used to play basketball in the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Youth Organization league and was employed as a stock clerk at the King Kullen supermarket in Massapequa Park.

On Wednesday, he took a state Regents exam and suffered flu-like symptoms when he went to bed that night. The next morning his condition was so bad that Gruber had to be taken to the hospital, where he died early Thursday afternoon, his relatives and the health department said.

It could not be determined, where he caught the infection.

Heidi Sacco, Gruber’s aunt said, "He went to bed fine, and he woke up dying."

People who shared food or drink with the infected teen must approach their doctors for preventive antibiotic treatment, said the health officials. Those who worked or shopped in the grocery store or who had casual contact in a classroom do not need preventive measures.

Maintenance staff will clean the high school and other facilities the student may have visited, Charles V. Sulc, acting Massapequa superintendent said in a statement.

Meningitis stands for the inflammation of meninges. The infection affects the bloodstream or the meninges that cover the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include high fever, headache, vomiting, neck stiffness and rash and are usually seen within five days of infection.

According to Abby Greenberg, acting Nassau County Health Commissioner, the bacterial infection is known to progress quickly, but not usually quite so fast.

Gruber was the first person to die of meningococcal meningitis in Nassau County since 2004, Greenberg said.

In a separate incident, a guidance counselor at a Catholic school in Queens also died of bacterial meningitis. She was on the faculty at the Saint Francis Preparatory High School in Fresh Meadow. Investigations are on to look for people who might have had a close contact with her.

Each year, about 2,500 get the infection and 300 die of it. Those who survive suffer impaired functions or damage of the brain.