Gym Worker With Bacterial Meningitis on Life Support: Update

This story has been updated.

Rochester Hills, MI — Kristy Malter, the Life Time Fitness employee who contracted bacterial meningitis, has been placed on life support.

The Notre Dame Prep School Alumni Association originally said on Facebook that Malter, who graduated from the high school in 2013, had died. But George Miller, director of Health and Human Services, confirmed only that she as on life support, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Beth Campbell, director of alumni relations at Notre Dame Prep, told the Detroit Free that Malter was a junior at Central Michigan University who enjoyed working with children. She lives in Macomb County, according to public health officials, who called an emergency late-night news conference to discuss the illness.

A member of the varsity cheer team in high school, she was known as “Mama Kristy” because “she’d care for the needs of everyone,” said Campbell, who is also the cheerleading coach at Notre Dame Prep.

Malter worked at a recent Life Time Fitness day camp in Rochester Hills, where more than 200 children were potentially exposed to bacterial meningitis, a serious and potentially deadly disease, public health officials said late Wednesday.

Health officials said in a statement that they were notified Wednesday that Malter was ill with an infection and had been hospitalized.

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The Health Division is in the process of notifying employees and parents of campers who attended day camp between July 1-11 and may have been exposed to bacterial meningitis.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that though most people recover, permanent disabilities, such as brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities, can result from the infection.

Kathy Forzley, manager and health officer for the Oakland County Health Division, emphasized that the disease is not spread through casual contact or by simply being in the same room as an infected person.

“A person must have direct contact with an infected person’s saliva or nasal secretions,” Forzley said. “If exposed, the incubation period is one to 10 days.”

The people who may have had contact with Malter include those who attended day camp or were known to have worked with her. The Health Division is advising those individuals to seek post-exposure treatment, even if vaccinations have been received previously.

Although the risk is low, people who may have been exposed could begin to develop symptoms of meningococcal disease at any time up until July 21. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, a sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck, confusion and sometimes a rash.

If any of these signs or symptoms should develop, the individual should be taken immediately to a physician or emergency room to be evaluated for possible meningococcal disease.

“Bacterial meningitis is a serious illness that can develop quickly but can also be prevented through antibiotics after exposure,” Dr. Pamela Hackert, chief of medical services for the Health Division, said in the statement. “People who have been contacted by Life Time Fitness and told that they have potentially been a contact to this case should receive antibiotics immediately.”

To reduce the spread and risk of any communicable disease, it is recommended that campers and staff not share items that come in contact with another person’s saliva such as foods, drinks, lipstick or balm, or cigarettes.

There are several types of bacteria that can cause meningitis, according to the CDC. Some of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis in the United States include Streptococcus pneumoniae, group B Streptococcus, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae and Listeria monocytogenes.

Parents or staff members who have any questions may contact Oakland County’s Nurse on Call from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at (800) 848-5533 or noc@oakgov.com.

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