Prayers appreciated

[Anylakeanytime]

This young woman provided day care for our daughter for about a year. Very very nice young lady. I am sure any thoughts and prayers for her and her family would be greatly appreciated.

A 25-year-old Fargo woman died Wednesday of bacterial meningitis, and authorities Thursday were notifying people who had contact with her to take antibiotics as a precaution, including the youths who attend the child-care center where she worked.

The woman – identified as Erin Mae Bye by Gilbertson Funeral Home of Devils Lake, N.D. – went to the emergency room at Fargo’s Innovis Health on Wednesday complaining of a rash, vomiting and a high fever, Fargo Cass Public Health officials said.

Treatment with antibiotics was attempted, but she died a short while later of an overwhelming illness, said Roberto Patron, a specialist in infectious disease at Innovis.

Patron said the situation is cause for concern but not panic, stating it is rare for people who carry the bacteria to become ill and even rarer for people to die from the disease.

Health officials have notified Here We Grow Child Care Center in Fargo of Bye’s death and are advising employees and parents to contact their doctors to obtain antibiotics.

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Nancy Bangsund, director of the center, said letters are going out to the approximately 150 families served by the center and parents were being notified in person when they show up at the center.

Bangsund said she believed all of the families will have been notified by this morning.

Health officials said Bye went camping with a group of about half a dozen people during last weekend’s WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Those who came into close contact with Bye are being warned to take antibiotics as a precaution, said Dr. John Baird, health officer with Fargo Cass County Public Health.

Officials said the bacteria are typically spread through contact with nose or throat secretions, such as sharing a drinking glass or kissing a person who carries the contagion.

North Dakota State Epidemiologist Kirby Kruger said cases of meningococcal meningitis are rare in the state, with his office seeing between one and eight cases a year.

Officials said they don’t know how or when Bye contracted the disease.

She started showing symptoms a few days before her death, Baird said.

In many cases, symptoms begin to show up one to 10 days after exposure, officials said. In addition to the symptoms Bye displayed when she went to the emergency room, signs of meningitis can include a sore neck, leading to confusion, and in extreme cases seizures.

Baird said anyone concerned about whether they have been exposed to the disease should contact their physician.

There will be a memorial service for Bye at 2 p.m. Saturday at the home of her parents – Bob and Joyce Bye –in rural Devils Lake.

[LABS4ME]

Prayers will be offered up for Erin Mae and her Family. May God bless her soul.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Valv]

Our prayers are for you Erin Mae. God bless your soul.

[Dave]

Prayers sent.

[Dan Thiem]

Such sadness happens and we can't understand it. Erins life ended way to soon. My thoughts and prayers are for her and her family. God bless her soul, and may her family find peace.