Bacterial Meningitis Symptoms, Treatment: Duke University Student Tests Positive For Disease

“The university officials were working to contact people who may have been in close contact with the infected student.”

November 20, 2018
International Business Times

SUMMARY

North Carolina’s Duke University announced Monday that an undergraduate student was hospitalized with bacterial meningitis. The university officials were working to contact people who may have been in close contact with the infected student.

Duke Student Health was working with Durham County Health Department to understand the situation. The health authorities defined “close contact” as direct exposure to the student’s saliva through “kissing, sharing a drink or prolonged exposure to coughing.” The infection cannot be transmitted through casual contact, the announcement said.

Students who may have been in direct contact with the sick student were updated about the situation by a message sent by the university doctors Dr. John Vaughn and Dr. Cameron Wolfe, advising them that taking an antibiotic would be helpful “as a preventive measure to lower the risk even further.”

The doctors also encouraged the students who may have been exposed to contact Duke's student health center at (919) 681-9355 while the non-students were asked to contact the Durham County Health Department at (919) 560-7600.

Bacterial meningitis can be life threatening and also cause permanent disabilities such as brain damage, hearing loss, and learning disabilities. While the primary symptoms of the infection include sudden onset of fever, headache or stiff neck, it can also cause the tissues around the brain to swell, that in turn interferes in the blood flow causing paralysis or even stroke.

Secondary symptoms include nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and confusion.

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