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For meningococcal disease -- serious infections caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis -- quick thinking, even giving a dose of antibiotics right in the primary care provider office while calling 911 for transport, can save a patient's life, she said. Indeed, effective antibiotics -- such as extended-spectrum cephalosporins or penicillins -- should be administered promptly to individuals with suspected meningococcal disease because of the risk for severe morbidity and death, according to the CDC. This is why so many sick kids with fever get a spinal tap, because we just don't want to take a chance," said Gary Marshall, MD, of the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky. Once the bacteria reach the central nervous system and disseminated intravascular coagulation gets underway, "we can kill the bacteria, but it's all about the inflammatory response and the cytokine storm and the coagulation and the brain swelling," Marshall noted."