02-22-2022, 11:18 PM
gabester wrote:
— how can this possibly be true?!
I don’t think it is (quite) true. The kid had classic meningococcemia - a widespread bacterial infection by neisseria meningiditis. This kind of “sepsis” causes the body’s immune system to freak out and all kinds of bad things to happen, and quickly - like, in 24 hours, like this case (in which case it gets the fancy name “purpura fulminans”, a shorthand description of the whole nasty assortment of things that happen)
It’s a little like being hit by a (microbiological) bolt of lightning. But it probably had nothing to do with the noodles. In fact, his roommate ate the same noodles and was fine. Actually, about 20% of people have this same bacterium colonizing their throat. Why don’t they get sick? I’m not sure anyone knows.
It’s a real tragedy, but fortunately rare. That’s (partly) why they give kids meningococcal vaccines these days. This kid had had only one dose.