Apparent meningitis death being probed

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 9:19 a.m.

Doctors were still working Thursday night to determine if a Phoenix boy who died June 28 at University Medical Center was suffering from bacterial meningitis.

Irvin's father, Edward Irvin, said doctors in the emergency room told him his son had died from meningitis, a diagnosis neither the Clark County coroner's office nor the Clark County Health District would confirm.

Dr. Brian Lipman, a Las Vegas infectious disease specialist, said he was not aware of the death of 14-year-old Christiaan Irvin, who was taken to UMC with a serious sinus infection, a symptom of the sometimes-fatal disease.

Lipman said medical examiners have likely determined whether bacterial meningitis was the culprit, but are still working to determine if it was a contagious form of the disease. Meningitis is a disease of the spinal fluid and the fluid that surrounds the brain, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bacterial meningitis is often treatable with antibiotics if the symptoms are caught early enough, Lipman said. Symptoms include headaches similar to a sinus infection, stiff neck and high fever. Irvin had become sick the morning of June 25, two days before he died.

Meningitis is often detected in densely packed areas, including schools and prisons.