A Marin resident who worked out at SoulCycle in Larkspur has died of meningitis, a public health official said Thursday.
Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer, said, “We have had a death in Marin County due to bacterial meningitis. This is presumed to be meningococcal, which is a common form of bacterial meningitis.”
Willis would not disclose any details about the individual who died. In an email to customers, Sanda Saveanu, studio manager of the SoulCycle workout gym, wrote, “We’re deeply saddened by the passing of one of our riders.”
Willis said the death was reported to the health department on Tuesday.
“What we’re doing now is reaching out to everybody we’ve been able to identify through our contact investigation who was exposed to this individual and letting them know of this exposure,” Willis said.
Those exposed are being advised to see their doctor for prophylactic treatment.
“The most common regimen for this is the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, one pill,” Willis said. “The majority of people who were exposed were exposed through the exercise class that this individual attended.”
Willis said SoulCycle had supplied him with a list of about 200 people with whom the deceased shared classes.
The disease, which is rare, spreads through respiratory droplets, coughing and sneezing.
“It can get on surfaces and if people touch those surfaces and then touch their faces they can become infected, similar to the way that influenza might be transmitted,” Willis said.
But he said risk of infection even with close exposure is low. Symptoms of the disease include headache, fever and neck rigidity.
“These cases often happen as an isolated incident,” Willis said. “Our goal is to keep this at one case.”
In her email to customers on Wednesday, Saveanu said the person who died hadn’t been at SoulCycle in over five days.
“We’ve done a deep cleaning of our studio,” Saveanu wrote. “We’re incredibly confident in our team and our processes to deliver a clean and safe environment. We use cleaning products that are specifically designed for sterilizing our studios, bikes, and towels to stop the spread of any illnesses.”
Willis said there is a vaccine available for this type of meningitis.
“College dormitories are notorious for clusters of meningitis,” he said. “So when our high school seniors are going off to college, we try to get all of them vaccinated against meningitis.”
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