PAXTON – Laboratory results received by the Ford-Iroquois Public Health Department on Tuesday did not confirm that a Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High School sixth-grader died from a rare blood infection that is highly contagious upon close contact.

Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said last week that an autopsy showed 11-year-old Natalie Johnson appeared to have died from a blood infection called Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome, caused by a severe bacterial infection. Blood work had been sent to a lab at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana to confirm the findings.

"The laboratory results received from the director of pathology, Dr. I.L. Uzoara, at Carle Foundation Hospital Laboratory are inconclusive as to the cause of death," Tuesday's press release said.

The health department's responsibility now is to follow Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines in relation to deaths ending without laboratory results as to the formal cause of death, said Ford-Iroquois Public Health Administrator Doug Corbett in the release.

Corbett said in the release that he understands that the lack of conclusive results may cause some worry in the community.

"With that in mind and in view of reports released earlier in the week from the coroner's office, the health department has placed an order for vaccine specifically manufactured for Neisseria Meningiditis bacteria," which commonly causes Waterhouse-Friderichson syndrome, he said. Individuals interested in receiving the vaccine should call the health department at 379-9281. The vaccine is free of charge.

Corbett also encouraged all parents of school-aged children to have their children vaccinated at one of the clinics providing the H1N1 flu vaccine.

Natalie Johnson died last Tuesday after being taken to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. She had been experiencing flu-like symptoms, including a fever, health department spokesman Julie Clark has said.

Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome is a rare but deadly complication of severe bacterial infections, most commonly meningococcal disease, said Dr. Henry Wu, a medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include low blood pressure, a "state of circulatory shock," bleeding and a rash, Wu said. Meningococcal disease, meanwhile, has symptoms including fever, headaches and neck stiffness, he said.

Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome is highly contagious but "requires fairly close contact" to spread, Wu said. It can be spread through direct contact, like kissing, and through direct exposure to oral secretions.

"Being in the same room typically is not enough," Wu said.

It is treatable, through antibiotics, if detected early, said Wu.

Preventive medication was provided to Natalie's family, Clark said last week. Preventive medication was not being given to students at PBL Junior High School, Clark had said, but she said the health department was "doing some research as far as what students sat around her and maybe had close contact with her."

The health department is encouraging parents of children who possibly had been in contact with Natalie Johnson in recent days before her death to seek medical attention immediately and call the health department if their children display any flu-like symptoms or high fevers.

Despite being flooded with phone calls from concerned parents, Clark noted Friday that there were no confirmed cases of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in any area children, including Natalie Johnson.

Meanwhile, attendance at PBL Junior High School and the school district's other three schools remained stable on both Friday and Monday.