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Student in Elizabeth City Middle School Gets Meningitis

Posted on: Saturday, 6 May 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Jeffrey S. Hampton, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

May 6--A student at River Road Middle School was diagnosed with meningitis Tuesday, but health officials have not determined whether the disease was the viral type or the more contagious and dangerous bacterial type.

Officials with Albemarle Regional Health Services were not aware of the condition of the student at the Elizabeth City school Friday.

No other students have reported symptoms of meningitis, Jerry Parks, director of Albemarle Regional Health Services, said Friday. From interviews with the parents, the student did not likely spread the disease, Parks said.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid in the spinal cord and around the brain. Bacterial meningitis can be spread through the exchange of respiratory or mouth secretions with such actions as coughing, kissing, or sharing a drink or eating utensil.

Bacterial meningitis can be treated with antibiotics. Viral meningitis must run its course. Symptoms include sudden high fever, headache or a stiff neck.

A letter sent to parents Wednesday from the school system reported that the disease was bacterial meningitis, but it can take as long as four days to determine which type it is, Parks said. In this case, the student might have been treated right away with antibiotics and it might never be known which type he had, he said.

* Reach Jeffrey Hampton at(252) 338-0159 or jeff.hampton

@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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