Fears subside as no new meningitis cases reported

A student is recovering from the disease and is expected to return to Penn in the near future. The female University student who fell ill with meningococcal meningitis during spring break while vacationing in the Bahamas is "continuing to do well" and will be discharged from a New York hospital in the next several days, according to Acting Student Health Services Director Evelyn Wiener. As of yesterday, Student Health had not diagnosed any other cases of meningitis, a potentially fatal bacterial infection transmitted fairly easily from one person to another. Though Student Health officials said it is unclear whether the student contracted the disease in the Bahamas or on campus, Wiener said it is now "at the end or beyond the incubation period for anyone exposed prior to spring break." The incubation period for meningococcal meningitis is usually five days but can last for up to 10. Wiener, who said the infected student will return to school "shortly after" her hospital release, stressed Monday that "a single case does not constitute an outbreak" -- which is defined by three or more cases in a three-month period -- and is not grounds for campus-wide antibiotic treatment or vaccination. Wiener added that the Penn students who had direct contact with the infected student in the week prior to the March 10 onset of the illness were given antibiotics before returning from spring break. As of yesterday, Student Health had prescribed medication to fewer than 10 people requesting it. Student Health encourages students to seek medical attention who exhibit symptoms like fever, severe headache, sensitivity to bright light, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rash and lethargy.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.