UPDATED Monday, February 15, 2010 -- 5:30 p.m.

A local woman knows how quickly meningitis can claim a life.

"We've done a lot of grief work in my family, a lot of grief work..."

Two years have passed since Emily Clevenstine lost her 22-year-old brother, Erik, without warning.

"I think the biggest thing is to take your symptoms seriously."

The UW Madison graduate was diagnosed with a sinus infection one Monday.

By Friday, he was dead.

The cause later determined to be bacterial meningitis.

February, 2010 ... Clevenstine watched closely as news broke of another young life taken by meningitis.

"... Just reminded of going back through all of the memories of our day two years ago when we had to make posters for Erik and you know prepare eulogies and things you'd think you'd never have to do for your 22-year-old sibling or son... "

The Monday before his death, Erik reported he had a fever.

The next day a headache, two symptoms of meningitis.

Ellen Smith is a nurse epidemiologist at St. Mary's Hospital.

"Often times people will say it's the worst headache I've ever had ... or they complain of the stiff neck. That's significant," she says, "The sensitivity to light can be another. Those are the things that make it a little different than just the average I'm feeling good today."

Smith says like the flu, this is peak season for meningitis, which can be spread through the exchange of fluids, for example, through kissing or sharing a water bottle.

She recommends parents vaccinate their children against the most common strains.

"It can progress relatively rapidly. It's important that somebody have contact and they just don't go to bed and feel bad and never get out of bed ... that somebody check in if they're feeling worse."

Today, Clevenstine tries to spread the message about meningitis and its dangers.

"To have people remember there are faces behind this disease.. faces of people who have died and faces of those who are left as well."

World Meningitis Day is April 24th.

You can learn more about it and fundraising events in Wisconsin under news links, or scroll down further for the web addresses.

UPDATED Monday, February 15, 2010 -- 2:00 p.m.
By NBC15's Dana Brueck

Two years ago, Emily Clevenstine lost her brother, a UW Madison graduate, to bacterial meningitis.

Today, she's an advocate for education.

Clevenstine's 22-year-old brother, Erik, passed away in February of 2008 after suffering a sinus infection. Within days, he was dead. Erik Baxter was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis after his death.

Ellen Smith, a nurse epidemiologist at St. Mary's Hospital, says some of the symptoms of meningitis include fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, and sensitivity to light.

She says a vaccine covers the most common forms of bacterial meningitis, but she says to take any of the above mentioned symptoms seriously because meningitis can be a fast moving and deadly disease.

You can learn more about meningitis at the web address below.

http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/about/faq.html

This year's World Meningitis Day is Saturday, April 24th, 2010.
You can learn more about it at the web addresses below.

http://www.stampoutmeningitis.com/

http://www.comoonline.org/

_____________________________________________________

Posted Tuesday, March 17, 2009 -- 4:30 pm

A bowl of frosting is suspected of infecting three Appleton high school students with bacterial meningitis. All three continue to recover, but a local family is highlighting the need for education after losing a loved one to the disease.

The story of 22-year-old Erik Baxter is the story of a life full of promise -- cut short. It's a story his sister, second-grade teacher Emily Clevenstine has learned is a familiar one.

"That I think has been helpful to know that it does affect so many different kinds of people because I truly wasn't aware until I started doing more research myself."

Erik died suddenly in February of last year from a strain of bacterial meningitis for which there is no vaccination. NBC 15 interviewed his mother and sister in August as kids were heading back to school.

"I said I did all of the vaccines... everything you're supposed to do before they went to college .. how could this be," his mother said at the time.

Another Wisconsin family, the Werners, noticed the online version of the story. The Werner family had established this foundation in memory of their 20-year-old daughter, Becky, who died from bacterial meningitis in 2004. Becky's mother, DeeDee left a comment at nbc15.com in support of Erik's loved ones.

"My mom found her email from that and she emailed her and then they got a conversation going and just sort of formed a relationship from there."

They also formed a partnership. The two families will take part in a 5K walk this April, as part of World Meningitis Day... which happens to fall on what would've been Erik Baxter's 24th birthday.

"We think it's a very good way to memorialize and honor his memory," Clevenstine says.

Doctors say bacterial meningitis is uncommon, compared to viral meningitis.

To learn more about symptoms, free presentations to Wisconsin schools and the walks happening next month, check out the web sites below.
http://www.stampoutmeningitis.com/
http://www.comoonline.org/

_____________________________________________________

Posted Wednesday, August 20 --- 5:30pm

It's almost time to head back to school -- and back to the doctor's office. Doctors recommend adolescents and college freshmen get vaccinated against meningitis. But one family has learned how suddenly this deadly disease can strike.

"He loved to read," Ruthann Baxter-Cutting says of her son.

22-year-old Erik Baxter was an aspiring writer himself.

"And he loved Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot," Erik's sister, Emily Clevenstine, says.

The UW Madison grad was working toward becoming a published author when he got sick in February.

His mother says it started with a sore throat, which he had checked.
"Everything came up negative," his mom says.

In less than a week, Erik had gone to an immediate care office twice. He was diagnosed with a sinus infection on a Monday.

"Then he called me Monday night and he had a fever."

The next day, Erik reported a severe headache.

"On Wednesday, he called and he sounded a whole lot better."

Erik was taking antibiotics, but when his mom called on Thursday, he never answered.

"And I never heard from him the rest of the day."

By Friday, Erik Baxter was found dead in his room.

"It was that quick," his mom says.

Family say the coroner determined Erik died from strep pneumonia, a bacterial form of meningitis.

"I said I did all of the vaccines... everything you're supposed to do ... before they went to college. How could this be?"

Fast forward six months...

"We know meningitis is the big one."

Erik's big sister, an educator herself, contacted NBC 15 after watching an interview about vaccinations.

"I thought it was important to educate people."

Erik died from a type of bacterial meningitis for which there is no vaccination.

"People need to know if you get the vaccine, there are strains that are not covered by it."

Dr. Ellen Wald is a pediatric infectious disease specialist. She says bacterial meningitis is uncommon, compared to viral meningitis, but it can be deadly. Wald did not treat Erik but says it's possible he developed meningitis sometime after his 2nd visit to immediate care.

"If you feel you're not recovering in a time frame in which you should be getting better ... that's the time to continue to seek medical care even if you've already been to the doctor."

Though Erik leaves his writings unfinished, his family says his story is worth sharing. Dr. Wald says another type of bacterial meningitis, which seems to affect young people -- who live in close quarters -- is covered by the vaccine.