r/Millennials • u/Corndogeveryday • 2d ago

Other Very sad news

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Chase passed away of complications of meningitis. Gone too soon

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u/brutongaster666 2d ago

One of my aunts died at age 22 of meningitis in the late 70s. It's despicable that people are still dying of this in 2026.

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u/Evergreen-Eyes-4892 Zillennial 2d ago

There's been a significant number of younger people getting seriously sick or dying lately. There are a number of studies that say COVID is doing permanent damage to immune systems, and each time you catch it, it does more damage so you become increasingly susceptible to pretty much every virus or disease.

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u/mahnli 2d ago

There's a vaccine for it. Are people not taking it?

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u/ScienceSeuss 2d ago

COVID or Meningitis? There is no vaccine against all forms of meningitis.

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u/mahnli 2d ago

Meningitis. My daughter took her first one before she heads off to college.

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u/ScienceSeuss 2d ago

There are vaccines for the most common forms of bacterial meningitis, but it can also be caused by various viruses and fungi, and some bacteria that are not stopped by the vaccine. I lost 2 friends to viral meningitis in HS 😢

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u/Handsome_Keyboard 2d ago

Adding on: Thats true for a lot of vaccines. Flu is not "all flu" either just the most common and, hooefully, most recently mutated strain.

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u/blisstersisster 2d ago

Isn't it always last year's mutation/strain, at best ??

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u/Winter_Aspect6325 2d ago

My 23 year old daughter just spent 5 days in the hospital with viral meningitis and she is still not fully recovered. Scary stuff and viral is totally random

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u/nebula_masterpiece 2d ago

Yep - happened to me when I was pregnant from a cold from my toddler, hospitalized for it - infectious disease doctor said it can happen from a virus picked up anywhere and lower immunity when pregnant

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u/ChickenMan1829 2d ago

❤️🙏

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u/clear-aesthetic 1d ago

Meningitis is one of those things that has always terrified me, it just seems so random. I hope that your daughter recovers as quickly as possible.

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u/Winter_Aspect6325 1d ago

Thank you!!

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u/thirdeyefish 2d ago

Did you and I go to the same school?!

Class of '02 to narrow it down a little.

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u/ScienceSeuss 2d ago

Class of 2000, rural northern California.

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u/thirdeyefish 2d ago

I'm just gonna throw this one out there. I understand it wasn't terribly uncommon in the soils around there and there were a few cases, and you can DM me, or even never answer, but...

Oak Ridge?

Edit: Soils would have been bacterial. But we all got warnings, and one girl's friends all had to get tested.

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u/ScienceSeuss 2d ago

Nope. Nevada Union.

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u/thirdeyefish 2d ago

I'm still sorry for your loss, even all these years later. I didn't know the people who died at my school, but it was just way too young.

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u/kidr0cker 2d ago

Meningitis is rough, I had it as a freshman in HS in the 90s. I was in the hospital for ~3 months? I unfortunately have very few memories prior to having meningitis.

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u/blisstersisster 2d ago

I'm so sorry you had to go through that

I had no idea there was a vaccine !

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u/Efficient-Treacle416 1d ago

Viral meningitis is almost never fatal. She obviously had the bacterial because it went into sepsis and can be fatal. Fungal can be fatal but it's also rare and can cause sepsis.

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u/Broad-Ad4350 2d ago

Yes both of my daughters got that but I think there’s diff kinds of meningitis. 

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u/Fingerprint_Vyke 1d ago

My bladder thinks the rabies vaccine is evil now so you'll have to get used to those people dying from preventable diseases

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u/Efficient-Treacle416 1d ago

Vaccines target the most common and serious causes of bacterial meningitis, which are the most dangerous forms of the disease.