A 12-year-old northern Utah girl passed away on Saturday at Primary Children’s Medical Center from bacterial meningitis. Faith Hunter was a 6th grader at Mount Logan Middle School in Logan.
Meningitis is an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. According to the Centers for Disease Control, bacterial meningitis can be caused by many types of bacteria, though most of them, including the type Hunter died from, are not easily contracted or transmissible.
Jill Parker of the Bear River Health Department said the organization does not think Hunter’s illness poses a threat to other Mount Logan Students.
“As we did the epidemiological study on it we found that due to the short incubation period and the lack of exposure that this student had to classmates, that there was no reason for parents to be concerned about their children’s health,” Parker said.
Parker said the Health Department decided there was no need to take preventative measures and medicate students against meningitis.