John Kennedy parents warned that death of student could be linked to Meningitis

The cause of death of 9-year-old Michaela L. Fidanza is still unknown, but school officials have notified parents of children attending John Kennedy Elementary School that New York health officials have not ruled out Meningitis.

Yesterday, the school had told parents that the Genesee County Health Department had determined it wasn't Meningitis.

Now the school is telling parents that "persons who may have exchanged saliva" with Fidanza in the past seven days should contact a physician.

WBTA obtained the letter to parents this afternoon and posted a copy on its Web site. The full text reads:

This is a message from the Batavia City School District for families whose children attend John Kennedy Elementary. You received a letter yesterday about the deal of a student at JK. In the letter, we indicated that the Genesee County Health Department had ruled out Meningitis as the cause of death. The NYS Health Department, because of the seriousness of the situation, feels that meningitis cannot be ruled out even though the tests are negative, because all symptoms support the meningitis diagnosis. The New York State health Department advises that persons who may have exchanged saliva with the patient during the last seven days should contact their physician. Any child who becomes ill with fever, rash or stiff neck, should be seen by a doctor immediately.

In today's edition of the Daily News, Scott DeSmit reports:

The ME's office looked immediately for signs of meningitis, a contagious viral disease.

"They were thinking that it was possibly meningitis but so far, the cultures have been negative for that," he said. "But they told us it takes four days to be sure. They don't think that's a cause but we don't know."