A nightclub where customers reportedly often have sex on the dance floor, faced an outbreak of deadly bacteria this weekend.
The Berlin club KitKatClub, was met with the scare when one of its male customers was suspected of contracting bacterial meningitis.
Meningitis is an infection which can be spread by saliva and body fluids. If contracted, the infection can cause inflammation around the brain and spinal cord, and can be fatal within hours.
KitKatClub was opened in 1994 by adult filmmaker Simon Thaur, and, according to TripAdvisor, proves its difference from other Berlin nightclubs by having guests shed most of their clothes upon arrival.
The club is described on the review site as ‘a very sex-positive place’, where ‘you can dance and drink, but you can also have sex or see others having sex right in front of you.’
Another review reads:
People do drugs everywhere and that is why everyone is having sex with anyone and anything. You can get any STD or any other bugs like the bacterial meningitis scare.
According to The Mirror, the customer was rushed to hospital on Saturday (December 29) and was found to have meningitis.
The club’s owners informed authorities about the incident and a city-wide alert was issued to encourage other guests of KitKatClub to seek medical attention.
Owners of the nightclub released a statement on Facebook to explain the situation and assure customers there was no need for a huge panic.
They wrote:
A guest who visited the club last Saturday (29.09.2018) is suffering from a bacterial meningitis. [sic]
This infection may be fatal, so there is also a reporting obligation of the treating doctor, he must immediately inform the health department. This happened today during the day.
Unfortunately, the sick guest is very bad, so it was not possible to ask who he had closer contact with us at the club. That is why the health department has decided to release a press release.
The idea was to inform as many people as possible who visited the club last Saturday. It worked too – radio & press reports about it. Unfortunately, it is now a panic that is not justified. [sic]
The owners went on to say none of the employees at the club have shown any symptoms of the infection and have been offered an antibiotic therapy as a precaution, but they added, any customers who went to the nightclub on Saturday and were showing signs of meningitis should see a doctor.
The post continued:
First of all, no one has to worry about who wasn’t at the club last Saturday. All employees are now asymptomatic and also have the possibility to start a aecb on a precautionary basis – so a transfer to new guests is excluded.
Who was there on Saturday and has the following symptoms should go to a doctor as soon as possible or go to the ER.
The disease often begins as a nose-throat infection with sudden fever, headache, chills, dizziness and severe feeling. In addition, vomiting, Neck Stiffness, dizziness, consciousness opacity, cramps and skin bleeding. [sic]
The owners explained doctors have said it is ‘very unlikely’ the disease would spread any further in the club, and because the building is not contaminated, city officials are not shutting KitKatClub down.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.