Health Department Reacts After Meningitis Announcement - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

Health Department Reacts After Meningitis Announcement

Kelly van buskirk.

A church remains closed tonight as a child is recovering from meningitis.  The church is Word of Life Ministries in Sand Springs. We want to point out, this is not suspected to be the sometimes deadly form of illness known as meningoccal disease.

Channel 8's Kim Jackson explains what happened.

The youth minister drove by an empty parking lot, to let us know, the child is doing much better. But there was a note on the door that says the church is closed for now.

Word of Life church taped the note on the door. It said a child was sick from meningitis that had attended vacation bible school. As a result, they closed the church temporarily.

"I think if there were a public health threat the Tulsa health department would be involved and that is one of the things that we like individuals to be aware of. That is that if we do feel there is a public health threat the Tulsa health department would be involved and we would have been notified," said Kelly VanBuskirk, of the health department. 

We consulted the health department, which said they were not part of any investigation there, which would have resulted, if there were a suspected case of meningococcal disease.

A case of viral meningitis would not warrant special action.

"Viral meningitis is a more common meningitis in the community and it is usually spread through poor hand hygiene and it is not treated with meningitis but people recover with bed rest and drinking lots of fluids," said VanBuskirk.

The church youth minister stopped and told us the church family member was doing much better. In the meantime, the church is having a professional cleaning job with plans to reopen by Wednesday evening services.

Parents have been advised to watch out for headaches or nausea.