Meningitis case confirmed

A 20-year-old female student has been moved out of intensive care and upgraded to serious condition following her hospitalization with meningococcal disease.

She was taken to Meriter Hospital Dec. 6 by rescue officials. Laboratory tests have confirmed that she contracted meningococcal meningitis.

The student lives in The Towers, a private residence hall. Her name is being withheld to protect her privacy.

Scott Spear, a physician with University Health Services, says university health staff identified and contacted all persons in close contact with the student who may need preventive antibiotics. Meningococcal disease is not highly contagious, he says, so the one-time antibiotic pill is given only as a preventive measure.

Spear stresses that preventive antibiotics are required only for people who have had intimate or direct exposure with a patient with meningococcal disease.

Typical symptoms of meningococcal disease include a fever greater than 101 degrees and a severe, sudden headache accompanied by mental changes, neck or back stiffness, and rashes.

For more information about meningococcal disease, visit: http://www.uhs.wisc.edu/meningitis.html

Students interested in speaking to someone at University Health Services may call (608) 265-5600.