INFANT'S ILLNESS RAISES CONCERNS AT DAY CARE

JACKSON -- Forty-four staff members and children at the Kiddie Kollege day-care center in Jackson have been treated with an antibiotic after an infant was diagnosed with a contagious illness, health officials said.

The illness was detected earlier this week when a 4-month-old boy from Bollinger County was treated in the emergency room of St. Francis Medical Center. The boy, who attends Kiddie Kollege, was subsequently released.

He was found to be suffering from meningococcemia, a disease caused by bacteria in the blood.

It often results in high fever in children, said Vicky McDowell, communicable disease coordinator with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center. Other symptoms include headache, nausea and vomiting. Left untreated, it can lead to bacterial meningitis, McDowell said.

Health officials said no one else connected with the day care has come down with the disease.

Kim Brantley directs the day-care center. She said the boy's doctor notified her about the medical problem Tuesday.

Public health officials also learned of the situation Tuesday and took steps to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

McDowell drafted a letter to parents and delivered it to the center. She also met with parents who came to pick up their children at the center Tuesday afternoon.

Health officials recommended preventive treatment for both staff and children who could have been exposed to the ill child between May 18 and May 27.

The antibiotic Rifampin was provided to staff and children free of charge at a Jackson pharmacy.

The Missouri Department of Health will reimburse the pharmacy for the cost of the medication.

Only those persons identified by the day-care center as having been possibly exposed to the child were eligible for the free medication.

Those on the list included all 17 members of the day-care staff and 27 children ranging from infants to 4-year-olds.

"We had to rely on the staff to determine which kids might have been exposed," said Charlotte Craig, county health department director.

The center cares for about 65 children, including those who attend after school.

But Brantley said most of the children weren't exposed to the sick child.

Children from birth to about 18 months of age are in a separate room from the other children, she said.

The center is operated by the First Assembly of God of Jackson. Church-run centers don't have to meet the state regulations that are required of licensed centers.

But Kiddie Kollege tried to closely follow the standards, including keeping infants apart from other children, she said.

Still, Eddie Pinkerton of Jackson worries that other children, including his 4-year-old daughter, might have been exposed. His daughter didn't receive the antibiotic treatment.

Pinkerton said infants and older children often are together at the center after 5 p.m.

Brantley said the sick child regularly was picked up earlier in the afternoon.

But Pinkerton said the antibiotic treatment should have been made available to all the children who attend the center.

"I am just a concerned parent," said Pinkerton.

He removed his daughter from the center because of unhappiness over the way the situation was handled.

Kiddie Kollege was slow in informing all the parents about the situation, he said.

Pinkerton said he didn't know about the medical problem until Wednesday when his wife learned about it from a friend.

But Brantley said she did her best to inform parents, including handing out copies of the letter from the health department.

The day-care center ran out of copies of the letter. "I had to make more copies," she said.

Brantley said she telephoned a number of parents and talked directly with other parents on Tuesday.

"I don't know what I could have done different," she said.