2 VALLEY KIDS BEING TREATED FOR RARE INFECTION.

Byline: Mary F. Pols Daily News Staff Writer

An 8-year-old Sun Valley girl and a 20-month-old Van Nuys boy are in the hospital recovering from suspected cases of a rare bacterial infection called meningococcemia, hospital officials said.

Meanwhile, parents who have been hearing news reports from Orange County about the potentially fatal illness are nervously checking their children for the fever and the telltale rashes that often accompany it. Anxious school principals are concerned about the possibility of outbreaks. And area hospitals report a surge in queries.

But Los Angeles County health officials say: Don't panic.

Despite the recent cluster of cases among students at Costa Mesa High School in Orange County and the fact that several cases are under investigation here, this is no epidemic, health experts say.

Meningococcemia - pronounced men-ing-go-kok-see-me-ah - actually has a high survival rate of 85 percent to 90 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It isn't new and it's relatively hard to transmit. Moreover, this is its favorite season, health officials say.

``It's always out there, and it always increases in the winter and spring,'' said Melba Veza, a nurse with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services communicable disease division.

About 3,000 Americans contract the infection every year, according to the CDC.

With early detection and antibiotics, the infection is generally curable, county health officials said.

There were 60 cases reported in Los Angeles County in 1996. Seven people died from meningococcemia, which attacks the blood and eventually the membranes protecting the brain and spinal cord.

The two San Fernando Valley children who health officials suspect may have the disease checked into Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys this week - the girl on Monday and the boy on Tuesday.

Lab cultures for both children came back negative, but Veza said the symptoms are close enough to warrant continued treatment for the bacterial infection. The two children are in fair condition.

Several other possible cases are under investigation by the health department, including some first reported in January.

Despite 14 confirmed cases throughout Los Angeles county since the beginning of the year, there have been no fatalities to date in 1997, said Los Angeles County Department of Health Services medical epidemiologist Dr. Eric Mouzin. Those numbers are neither unusual nor likely to spur an epidemic, he said.

``The risk of catching meningococcemia is really minimal unless you are exposed repeatedly and intimately to the disease,'' Mouzin said.

Infection requires direct contact with discharge from the nose or throat, he said. It's more likely to get the infection from family members than classmates, he said, simply because it takes such close contact.

But news reports of the six recent cases in Orange County, including the deaths of two children, have alarmed parents. At Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, officials noticed a sharp increase in phone calls and emergency room visits from worried parents.

``They get scared, and they react, and nobody wants to take a chance on losing a kid,'' said hospital spokesman Steve Rutledge.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials say they have also seen their share of concerned parents.

``All of a sudden, everyone is acutely aware of every rash,'' said Suzanne Rue, a school district resource nurse on communicable disease.

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