CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — UPDATE: The 8-year-old girl died Friday night from her illness. We are working to learn more information. Stay with Channel 2 Action News for updates.
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Parents in Carroll County now know a child is on life support after contracting a form of meningitis.
Her illness was diagnosed as strep pneumonia meningitis. Public health officials say it is not contagious or a threat to students or school staff.
Channel 2’s Wendy Corona spent Friday afternoon at Providence Elementary School where that girl attends third grade.
It's also where some parents decided to keep their children from school after receiving an alarming robo-call from the district Thursday.
Dr. Vaughnette Jones treated the now hospitalized student back in 2013, and says there is no reason to be panicked.
“There is no potential risk for when the children go back on Tuesday for them to then be exposed to it,” said Jones.
Jones explained symptoms of meningitis as stiff neck, high fever, headaches and not being coherent.
Jones said the only way for someone to contract the illness would be by “sharing something that was actually in her mouth."
If that didn’t happen, you’re not at risk for catching what she has,” she said.
Corona has not confirmed how the 8-year-old girl contracted the illness, but Jones explained that even with the Prevnar vaccine, people can get strep pneumonia into the sinus and it causes a sinus infection.
"But when the strep pneumonia gets around the brain stem into the brain, that’s when you have the meningitis,” she said.