A popular SoulCycle studio in Northern California is having a major health scare after one avid cyclist dies from bacterial meningitis.
Sevin Philips, 48, of Marin County, California died from the virus on Saturday, prompting health officials to investigate the possibility that he could have spread the infection to other cyclists at the Larkspur SouCycle location. However, Sanda Saveanu, the manager of the SoulCycle studio in Larkspur, insisted to the New York Daily News that Philips did not contract meningitis at the studio and that other riders shouldn’t be deterred from attending the classes.
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“We have nonetheless been in constant communication with the department of health, which has emphasized that there is no evidence for any health risk to our riders,” she explained.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the likelihood of catching meningitis is relatively low (you’d have to spend several hours in close contact with someone who’s infected), it can certainly be spread by person-to-person contact through coughing or kissing.
“We’ve done a deep cleaning of our studio,” a SoulCycle spokesperson said in a statement to Yahoo. “We’re incredibly confident in our team and our processes to deliver a clean and safe environment. We use cleaning products that are specifically designed for sterilizing our studios, bikes and towels to stop the spread of any illnesses.”
It’s comforting to know SoulCycle is taking this incident seriously. Even though the bacterial infection can be deadly, early symptoms like sudden onset fever, headaches and a stiff neck are big indicators you should get checked out for the virus. Luckily, meningitis can be treated with antibiotics if caught early enough.
We’ve reached out to SoulCycle for comment and will update this post once we hear back.
