Former MuchMusic VJ Juliette Powell, 54, died 'unexpectedly': What to know about bacterial meningitis
"Juliette had a magical way of drawing people in with her infectious enthusiasm, and her brilliant intelligence and gorgeous smile lit up every room she ever entered," reads her obituary. "Her loss is devastating and she will be deeply, painfully missed by so many."
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.
In 1989, Powell became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Canada. She joined MusiquePlus as a VJ in 1992 before going on to join MuchMusic in 1996. Eventually, she transitioned out of music and became a business reporter for CablePulse24. Following her career in television, she authored several books including The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology in 2023.
So, what is bacterial meningitis and what are the signs and symptoms? Read on to learn everything you need to know about the condition.
Meningitis is the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord membranes, typically caused by an infection, bacteria or sometimes fungi.
According to Meningitis Foundation Canada, untreated bacterial meningitis is a "medical emergency" and can be "fatal in a few hours." Those who do recover can have permanent disabilities, such as brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities.
The condition usually spreads through close contact to bacteria or virus, such as cold or flu germs. As such, sneezing, coughing, kissing and close physical contact can cause the germs to spread. Because it is difficult to stop the transmission of bacteria, prevention is essential.
Bacterial meningitis is diagnosed by a medical professional after analyzing a sample of spinal fluid from the patient.
This condition can often be mistaken for another life-threatening illness, sepsis, which is the body's extreme response to infection. Sepsis happens when an infection triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. Without timely treatment, sepsis can quickly lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death.
That the timing of bacterial meningitis symptoms can vary widely. Some people can get sick within a few hours of contracting the condition, while it may take others one to three days to show symptoms.
Typically, early symptoms, occurring within the first six hours, include fever, headache, irritability, nausea and vomiting.
Later symptoms occurring within six to 12 hours involve fever, muscle aches, leg pain and pale skin.
After 12 hours, symptoms usually include cold hands and feet, stiff neck or neck pain, rash, confusion or delirium and decreasing responsiveness.
If you or someone you know is experiencing any of the above symptoms, seek medical attention immediately.
Certain risk factors can increase a person's risk for getting bacterial meningitis. The risk factors include:
Age: Babies or young children are more likely to contract bacterial meningitis due to their weakened immune systems. That said, people of any age can develop the condition.
Group settings: Meningitis tends to spread where large groups of people gather or live in close quarters, such as college dorms or music festivals.
Certain medical conditions: Some medical conditions, medications or surgical procedures put people at increased risk for contracting bacterial meningitis. For example, having an HIV infection or not having a spleen can increase a person's risk for the condition.
There are many ways to help prevent bacterial meningitis.
Firstly, different vaccines can help protect against certain types of bacterial meningitis. There are vaccines for four types of bacteria that can cause the condition.
Additionally, maintaining good health, washing your hands often, staying home when you're sick and having a strong immune system can protect us from most causes. Oftentimes we carry meningitis germs with no ill effects.
However, if your immune system is compromised due to cancer treatments, HIV, organ transplants, infection or other serious health issues, speak with your doctor about how to help protect against meningitis.
Lastly, seeking medical attention as soon as symptoms appear is essential. Moreover, as the condition is contagious, if you've been around someone who has it, call your healthcare provider to discuss how to keep from getting sick.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
5 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Uterine Fibroids: Why Is the Most Common Tumor Still Such a Puzzle?
Here's the thing about uterine fibroids that's so maddening. For a condition that's arguably one of the most common on the planet, our answers for it have historically been terrible. Just awful. We're talking about benign tumors—knots of muscle and fibrous tissue in the uterine wall—that show up in most women [1]. By menopause, up to 70% of white women have them. For Black women, it's over 80% [3] [11]. That's not a bug; it's a feature of female biology for a huge portion of the population. And yet, the experience is a total lottery. Some women have them and feel nothing. Zero. But for others, they completely hijack their lives. The bleeding can be relentless, leading to iron-deficiency anemia that leaves you exhausted [2]. The pelvic pain and pressure can feel like a constant, dull weight. A fibroid pressing on the bladder means you're always looking for a bathroom. Pressing on the bowel means constipation [7]. And for women trying to start a family, they can be a disaster, contributing to infertility or miscarriage [4]. So you have this incredibly common thing, a single cell in the uterine wall that goes rogue and starts cloning itself [5]. We know what fuels it. The body's own hormones, estrogen and progesterone, act like gasoline on a fire [6]. We even know some of the genetic typos, like in the MED12 gene, that kick things off [5]. It's a perfect storm of genes, hormones, and other factors like age. But knowing the cause and knowing what to do about it are two very different things. For years, the clinical playbook was frustratingly simple. If the symptoms weren't too bad, you'd be told to 'watch and wait.' If they were wrecking your life, the solution was often a hysterectomy [7]. Remove the whole uterus. Problem solved. A definitive answer, sure, but a massive, irreversible one. It's a sledgehammer approach. That's finally changing. The goal now is to preserve the uterus if possible. First, you need a good map. A basic ultrasound is step one, but an MRI is the real GPS. It shows exactly where every fibroid is, how big it is, and what it's pushing against [10]. That map is everything because it opens the door to smarter, more targeted treatments. Instead of the sledgehammer, we can now use a scalpel. A myomectomy, for instance, is surgery to remove just the fibroids. It works, but it's still surgery. A less invasive option that's become a go-to is uterine artery embolization (UAE). It's clever. A radiologist goes in through a tiny puncture and blocks the specific arteries feeding the fibroids. Starved of their blood supply, the fibroids shrink and die [8]. A recent, more sophisticated study using genetic data—a method called Mendelian randomization—blew that idea out of the water. It found no causal link. None [9]. This is incredibly important. It means we don't have to put women through needless worry or extra testing. It's a perfect example of how rigorous science helps us practice better, less alarmist medicine. That's the future. Using better tools to get rid of the guesswork. Artificial intelligence isn't just hype here. Researchers are training AI models to read MRIs and predict which fibroids are likely to grow or cause symptoms [10]. Imagine that. Being able to tell a woman not just that she has fibroids, but that these specific ones are the troublemakers we need to watch. The real progress isn't some single miracle cure. It's about having more options on the table. It's about having smarter diagnostics to help choose the right option for the right person. And it's about finally giving this incredibly common condition the serious, nuanced attention it has always deserved. [1] Stewart, E. A., Laughlin-Tommaso, S. K., Catherino, W. H., Lalitkumar, S., Gupta, D., & Vollenhoven, B. (2016). Uterine fibroids. Nature reviews. Disease primers, 2, 16043. [2] Ahmad, A., Kumar, M., Bhoi, N. R., Badruddeen, Akhtar, J., Khan, M. I., Ajmal, M., & Ahmad, M. (2023). Diagnosis and management of uterine fibroids: current trends and future strategies. Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology, 34(3), 291–310. [3] Giuliani, E., As-Sanie, S., & Marsh, E. E. (2020). Epidemiology and management of uterine fibroids. International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, 149(1), 3–9. [4] Cook, H., Ezzati, M., Segars, J. H., & McCarthy, K. (2010). The impact of uterine leiomyomas on reproductive outcomes. Minerva ginecologica, 62(3), 225–236. [5] Bulun, S. E., Yin, P., Wei, J., Zuberi, A., Iizuka, T., Suzuki, T., Saini, P., Goad, J., Parker, J. B., Adli, M., Boyer, T., Chakravarti, D., & Rajkovic, A. (2025). UTERINE FIBROIDS. Physiological reviews, 105(4), 1947–1988. [6] Yang, Q., Ciebiera, M., Bariani, M. V., Ali, M., Elkafas, H., Boyer, T. G., & Al-Hendy, A. (2022). Comprehensive Review of Uterine Fibroids: Developmental Origin, Pathogenesis, and Treatment. Endocrine reviews, 43(4), 678–719. [7] De La Cruz, M. S., & Buchanan, E. M. (2017). Uterine Fibroids: Diagnosis and Treatment. American family physician, 95(2), 100–107. [8] Mashal, R., Patel, N., Pitrola, B., Sewell, T., Al-Kufaishi, A., Taheri, S., & Hamady, M. (2025). Is uterine artery embolisation a safe and effective modality to treat submucosal fibroids?. CVIR endovascular, 8(1), 49. [9] Yao, M., Zhao, S., Zhang, D., Cui, Y., Wang, Y., & Jiang, L. (2025). Causal association between uterine fibroids and cardiovascular disease: A Mendelian randomization study. Medicine, 104(22), e42627. [10] Tinelli, A., Morciano, A., Sparic, R., Hatirnaz, S., Malgieri, L. E., Malvasi, A., D'Amato, A., Baldini, G. M., & Pecorella, G. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Uterine Fibroids: A Useful Combination for Diagnosis and Treatment. Journal of clinical medicine, 14(10), 3454. [11] Lethaby, A., & Vollenhoven, B. (2015). Fibroids (uterine myomatosis, leiomyomas). BMJ clinical evidence, 2015, 0814. [12] Pavone, D., Clemenza, S., Sorbi, F., Fambrini, M., & Petraglia, F. (2018). Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Uterine Fibroids. Best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology, 46, 3–11.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Canadian wildfires spark NY air-quality alert: ‘Can pose serious health risks'
Canadian wildfires may be posing 'serious health risks'' to people in New York — prompting an air-quality alert for the state through Monday and a warning for some regions into Tuesday. The metro area's current ailing air quality and hazy skies are hampering the five boroughs, Long Island, Hudson Valley, Adirondacks, eastern Lake Ontario and Central and Western New York regions, according to an alert issued Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Canadian wildfires cloak Manhattan in haze last month. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post Advertisement Pollution from fine particulate matter fueled by the wildfires is expected to push the local Air Quality Index past 100, meaning it will be unhealthy for sensitive groups, including children, older adults and people with heart or lung conditions. In some areas, the index could go above 150 momentarily. The tiny particles can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation along with coughing, sneezing and shortness of breath. They can also worsen asthma and heart disease. Advertisement 'New York continues to track air quality conditions across the state, and people in certain areas may notice visible smoke throughout the day,' Hochul said in a statement. The advisory remains in effect through 11:59 p.m. Monday, but weather patterns are anticipated to bring more spikes in smoke in certain regions across the state Tuesday. Wildfires destroy scores of acres in British Columbia. AP Officials urged everyone in sensitive groups to check their local Air Quality Index and take precautions, including limiting outdoor activity. Advertisement 'Poor air quality can pose serious health risks — especially for those with heart conditions, lung diseases, such as asthma, young children, those over 65 years old, and pregnant individuals,' New York Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. 'To reduce exposure, limit strenuous activity outdoors.' The smoky situation is just the latest to cloud city skies this year. Multiple alerts were issued in June when ozone pollution and wildfire haze from Canada triggered warnings across the tri-state area. Advertisement More than 700 active wildfires are currently blazing across Canada, with roughly two-thirds of them still out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Washington parents face steep childbirth costs
Having kids is expensive in Washington state and giving birth is no exception, according to data from FAIR Health. Why it matters: Birth costs are just one of many financial burdens for new parents, with pediatrician and child care bills often following soon after. Washington also has some of the highest day care center prices in the country, with the average infant tuition topping $21,000 per year. By the numbers: The average in-network cost to give birth in Washington is about $17,400 for vaginal deliveries and $23,642 for cesareans, according to data from FAIR Health, a national independent nonprofit. For the few people who choose to give birth out-of-network, the average costs are even more staggering, at $31,219 for vaginal births and $47,648 for C-sections. Nationwide, the average total in-network cost of giving birth in the U.S. is about $15,200 for vaginal deliveries and $19,300 for C-sections. How it works: The amounts in the FAIR Health Cost of Giving Birth Tracker include delivery, ultrasounds, lab work and more. They reflect the total costs paid by patients as well as their insurance companies, as applicable. Financial responsibilities of insured patients are typically well below the total amount paid, with average out-of-pocket costs of just under $3,000 from 2018 to 2020, per a 2022 analysis by the Peterson Center and KFF. Between the lines: Black and Hispanic people paid more out-of-pocket for maternal care than Asian and white patients with the same insurance, per a study published earlier this year in JAMA Health Forum.
