Deadly meningitis scare in Berlin sex club

Patrons of a famed fetish nightclub in Berlin are being urged to immediately visit a doctor to be checked for bacterial meningitis after a visitor was taken to hospital for the illness.

Authorities in the German capital say they believe the patient contracted the illness in the city’s KitKatClub on Saturday.

“A friend of the patient could tell us that they were both in the KitKat club, but he did not know who the sick person was in contact with there,” said Patrick Larscheid, director of the Reinickendorf Health Department.

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Medical officials in the Reinickendorf district advised anyone who attended the club on Saturday to “seek immediate preventive treatment”.

In a statement on its homepage, the club itself said that “while infections in the club were very unlikely according to doctors and authorities ... anybody suffering from symptoms should immediately see a doctor.”

Bacterial meningitis can be spread via saliva and close body contact. Common symptoms are strong headaches, high fever, a stiff neck, dizziness and weakness. The disease can become life-threatening within hours.

The KitKatClub “is renowned for its sexually uninhibited techno parties that draw visitors from around the world”, says Metro.

The man “had attended the ‘CarneBall Bizarre’ party”, says the BBC. The night has a dress code of “fetish, patent and leather, uniforms, TV, goth, costumes, evening wear, glitz & glamour, extravagant clothes”, according to the club's Facebook page.

According to HuffPost, the club said that none of its employees had shown any symptoms so far, but all had been offered antibiotics as a preventive measure.

City officials said there was no need to shut down the club because the site itself wasn’t the source of infection, and was not contaminated.