Meningitis kills granny
2 others stricken at B'klyn complex
BY TAMER EL-GHOBASHY, JESS WISLOSKI and PAUL H.B. SHINDAILY NEWS WRITERS
Gerldine Safford
-->An outbreak of bacterial meningitis in a Brooklyn apartment complex has killed a 46-year-old woman and seriously sickened two other residents, health officials said yesterday.
Gerldine Safford, a beloved mother of two and a grandmother of one, starting feeling ill and disoriented on Monday, three days after attending a joyful birthday party at a neighbor's apartment at the Gates Patchen complex in Bedford-Stuyvesant, relatives said.
Safford's niece, Lorna Ryan, 12, who lived with her, and a 22-year-old neighbor, Michelle Ferguson, fell ill the same day, relatives said. All three were at the Friday party, where doctors suspect they picked up the dangerous bacteria.
The bacteria is transmitted through close contact, such as sharing eating utensils, cups, cigarettes or kissing - prompting worried relatives and neighbors to get checked for the disease.
"It's real scary. Four days ago they were all healthy. Then all of sudden this happens," said Lorna Spencer, 43, Safford's sister and Lorna Ryan's mother.
"I'm trying to be strong for my family," Spencer said after returning from Woodhull Hospital, where her daughter was on a respirator. "I feel lost. Why would this happen to these good people, these innocent people?"
Bacterial meningitis, which is far more dangerous than viral meningitis, causes swelling of the lining of the brain and spinal cord and can be lethal if not treated promptly.
Symptoms include fever, neck stiffness and sensitivity to light. The bacteria normally lies dormant in the throat but can develop into a full-fledged infection in some people.
Don Weiss of the city Health Department said there are about 40 cases a year in the city. "It is serious. About one in six die from this disease," he said.
Lorna was in stable condition but doctors were keeping close tabs on her, relatives said.
Safford's other niece, Katrina Spencer, 26, said that when Lorna started feeling ill, "it was like she was in a spell."
Safford had recently returned to school to become a nurse, Spencer said, adding: "She was everything to my family."
Kader Brown, 42, Safford's boyfriend of 10 years, said, "She was the love of my life."
Ferguson's mother, Valerie Ferguson, 41, said her daughter was conscious yesterday but still not out of the woods.
"It's a wait-and-see situation," she said. "All I can do is pray and sit with her and read some Scriptures."
Dr. Edward Fishkin, medical director at Woodhull, said about 130 people from the Gates Patchen apartments were screened and several received antibiotics as a precaution.
Scourge at a glance
What is it?
Meningitis is an infection of the membrane covering the brain and spinal cord. It can come from viruses, bacteria or fungi. Bacterial meningitis, the most dangerous kind, kills about 10% of people who catch it.
How does it spread?
Transmission usually requires very close contact, such as sleeping in a bedroom with an infected person, or sharing food, drinks or eating utensils.
What are the symptoms?
Headache, high fever and stiff neck are the three most prominent. If the infection is bad, a patient could collapse or die.
How is it treated?
Patients receive antibiotics intravenously. People who were exposed to a victim might get antibiotic pills to prevent infection.
Who is most at risk?
Teens and adults are at more risk than young children. High school and college students, campers and military recruits are now advised to get vaccines against the disease because they tend to share close quarters.
Is meningitis seasonal?
Sometimes. Viral meningitis, a less lethal form of the disease, is more common in the summer and early fall. Most bacterial meningitis is not seasonal.
Jordan Lite