CROWN POINT | A Dolton fifth-grader died of meningitis -- but not a highly contagious form of the disease, Lake County Coroner David Pastrick said Monday.

Desiree Sprawls, 12, died Dec. 26 at an East Chicago home she shared with family members.

The girl lived both in Dolton and East Chicago but went to school at Lincoln Elementary School in Dolton.

The girl's mother said Desiree came home from school Dec. 22 complaining of a headache that did not subside. Dolton Elementary District 148 Superintendent Ruby Roberson said shortly after Desiree's death that the girl's mother took her to the doctor Dec. 24.

Pastrick asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the Indiana State Department of Health to help determine the cause of death.

Desiree died of streptoccocus pneumoniae meningitis, which is not a particularly contagious bacterial form of the disease, Pastrick said.

He ruled her death as natural. The infection caused brain swelling, which is what killed her, Pastrick said.

That type of meningitis is normally seen in children younger than 5 and adults older than 60. It causes ear and nose infections, he said.

It is rarely fatal, Pastrick said.

Shortly after Desiree's death, cleaning crews sanitized the two fifth-grade classrooms and the washrooms at Lincoln Elementary.