A Penn student was hospitalized Sunday with what is believed to be bacterial meningitis, University officials said yesterday.
The student is currently in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The individual began showing symptoms of the illness on Saturday.
Student Health Service officials said students who were in close contact with the hospitalized student have already been notified and treated with antibiotics.
Casual interactions with the hospitalized student are not likely to result in contraction of the disease, SHS Director Evelyn Wiener said. Most students, therefore are not at risk for infection.
Meningitis is contracted through prolonged, intimate contact -- like kissing, sharing drinks or contact with any body fluids.
"As serious an infection as it is, it's very, very difficult to transmit to other people," Wiener said.
SHS officials declined to comment on the patient's identity or place of residence at Penn, citing confidentiality rules.
At-risk students were contacted by SHS after being named by the patient, who is "awake and alert," according to Wiener.
"If the student had told us that they had gone to a party and there had been widespread sharing of common containers ... we would be putting out a different bulletin," Wiener said. "I am very comfortable that that has not occurred."
The disease -- fatal in about 15 percent of treated cases -- is a bacterial infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Bacterial meningitis mostly affects children and young adults. The disease is especially common on college campuses due to close contact between students. It was last reported at Penn in 1999.
In that incident, a female student contracted the illness while on a spring break trip in the Bahamas, and was not treated on campus. No other students were infected.
Symptoms include fever, severe headache, sensitivity to bright light, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rash and lethargy.
All incoming Penn undergraduates are required to either be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis or sign a waiver saying they have a religious belief or possible medical problem that prevents them from getting the shot.
Vaccination does not protect against some strains of the disease, however.
"This student was vaccinated in accordance with the requirements that we have," Wiener said. "This still happened."
Because the students at risk for the disease were already notified, Wiener said she did not recommend widespread antibiotic treatment.
Widespread use is "going to promote resistant bacteria," Wiener said. "Then [antibiotics] won't work when we do need it."
She noted that the University has sought advice from city health officials and HUP experts about the situation.
