Meningitis case sparks concern

A Penn student fell sick with the contagious and potentially fatal illness. A female University freshman fell ill with meningococcal meningitis during spring break while vacationing in the Bahamas and is currently in stable condition at a New York hospital, according to Acting Director of Student Health Services Evelyn Wiener. Student Health officials said it is unclear whether the student actually contracted the disease -- which is potentially fatal and transmitted fairly easily from one person to another -- in the Bahamas or on campus. However, Wiener stressed 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. Only those students who came into close contact with the infected student will need preventative treatment for the disease. Meningococcal meningitis is a relatively rare disease and usually occurs as a single, isolated event. After consulting with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Infection Control and the Philadelphia Public Health Department, Student Health drafted a letter recommending antibiotic treatment to "those individuals who had close or intimate contact with the student on or after March 3," since the onset of the illness occurred around March 10 and the student left campus March 4. At a meeting last night, Student Health also provided the letter to a group of approximately 30 students -- many of whom are in the sorority the infected student is pledging -- who have had casual contact with the student and do not meet the medical criteria for treatment. Another group of identified students will meet with Wiener later today. Over the weekend, the student's family contacted the "handful" of individuals who came into close contact with the student -- several of whom are Penn students -- in the week prior to the onset of the illness, Wiener said. Contact that could cause infection includes touching and kissing; sharing eating utensils, drinking glasses or toothbrushes; and exchanging bodily secretions. Since protection by immunization is only 85 percent effective and does not protect against all strains of the disease, even individuals previously vaccinated were prescribed this weekend with an ongoing antibiotic treatment. Individuals who live on the student's hall, ate in the same dining hall or attended classes with her do not need medical attention, according to Student Health. Meningococcal meningitis is a severe bacterial infection of the bloodstream and meninges, a thin membrane covering the brain and spinal cord. Its symptoms include fever, severe headache, sensitivity to bright light, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rash and lethargy. A vaccination takes two weeks to go into effect and must be administered before exposure to the meningococcal bacteria. The most recent on-campus case of meningococcal meningitis -- which is the most serious form of the disease -- occurred in 1987, and the infected student survived the illness.

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