Form of meningitis blamed for South Georgia boy's death

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - Health officials said a South Georgia boy died Wednesday of a form of meningitis and his sister remained hospitalized in Tallahassee, Florida with the same illness. <br> <br> WALB-TV in Albany, Georgia reported Wednesday that four-year-old Timothy Spires of Early County died at Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center after being transferred from a Miller County, Georgia, hospital. <br> <br> A hospital spokeswoman said the child&#39;s sister, seven-year-old Kayla Spires was still in the hospital, but the family declined to release further information about her. <br> <br> Officials could not immediately determine how the children contracted the disease, a blood bacteria called meningococcemia. <br> <br> Symptoms include high fevers, purple rashes and chills. WALB reported that the disease is so contagious that workers at the hospitals in Miller County and Early County, where the children first were treated, were taking antibiotics as a precaution.