Health officials report two deaths in California from rare form of meningitis

• Health officials in Ventura County, California say two people have died of a rare and virulent form of meningitis in the past week.
• A child died last Wednesday and a college student died on Sunday, said Ventura County public health officer Dr. Robert Levin to The Associated Press.
• They succumbed to meningococcemia, an acute infection of the bloodstream caused by a bacteria called Nesisseria meningitidis, authorities said.Although the bacteria lives in the upper respiratory tract of many people, most do not get ill, said Kim Kandarian, the county's public health communicable disease coordinator.People can contract the bacteria by inhaling "droplets of contaminated upper-respiratory secretions," said a county news release.
• However, a link between the two cases has not been established, Kandarian said to the AP.Both patients had flu-like symptoms for about a week and were receiving medical care, Dr. Levin said.The student has been identified as 19-year-old Thomas Kent.An estimated 2,600 people contract meningococcemia each year in the United States.
• About 5 percent of the child cases are fatal as well as 5 percent to 10 percent of the adult cases.The disease can be prevented with a vaccine, Levin said.