Medical officials say San Francisco woman likely died from meningitis

Byby Leslie Brinkley KGO logo

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Medical officials said a San Francisco woman may have died from meningitis last week, but are still waiting for test results to confirm the exact cause of death.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Laura Kimberly Robson, 53, of San Francisco died last Tuesday and while medical officials wait for test results, they've told her family the likely cause of death was meningitis.

Robson's family says they were told a bus driver found her sitting upright in a rear seat at the end of a line in Daly City.

They do not know how long she had been on the bus or when she passed away, but Muni immediately called Daly City police.

Robson's brother David Robson says the San Mateo County Coroners Office called him on Wednesday to warn him that preliminary autopsy results indicated she died of meningitis. "The doctor said there was enough evidence from his examination that we needed to go to the hospital, that he feels it was meningitis," David said.

He and his son were given antibiotics since he spent last weekend in direct contact with his sister during a visit in Santa Rosa. "She had a severe headache, she had a slight fever. She was taking painkillers, but she didn't say her neck was hurting which they say is one of the symptoms" David said.

He says the painkillers were prescribed after she had shoulder surgery at San Francisco General Hospital 10 days before she fell ill.

The San Mateo Ccounty Health Department did not comment on the case.

The San Mateo County Coroner's Office will only say the case is still under investigation. If final lab work confirms meningitis, it would be the second death involving a San Francisco resident this year.

Last weekend, Sevin Phillips, 48, died of meningitis. Marin Health and Human Services sent letters to 250 people who may have had contact with him at a soul cycle location in Larkspur.

David hopes to bury his sister in Belmont this coming week.