Several students, following University recommendations for illness prevention, visited Student Health Wednesday following the announcement Tuesday night that a student was being treated for meningococcal meningitis.
Fifteen students, including those who were in close living contact with the ill student, received prophylactic treatment Wednesday morning. Several other students voluntarily sought diagnosis, but none showed symptoms of the disease and no similar cases have surfaced, said Dr. William Purdy, director of Student Health.
"Sometimes people with the flu or viral illnesses have somewhat similar symptoms, but not as severe," he said.
Meningococcal meningitis is a bacterial form of the disease, which infects the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can be fatal if left untreated, but the disease is rare-fewer than 5 out of 100,000 people contract the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Purdy said 66 percent of the Class of 2011 and 70 percent of the Class of 2012 had received the meningitis vaccination. The student who contracted meningitis, however, had not received the vaccine, he said. Although the vaccine does not eliminate chances of contracting meningitis, it dramatically lowers the risk, Purdy said.
The vaccine is expected to last three to five years, according to the CDC, but Purdy said seniors should not be at risk because meningitis is more common in dormitories where students live in close proximity.
"Students should be careful, but this is not something people should panic over," he said. "Usually when someone gets meningitis, it's obvious they are very, very sick. Studies have shown this is a very, very rare case to have right away."
The student had been tenting in Krzyzewskiville since last month, one of the student's tentmates said. She began exhibiting symptoms Monday night or Tuesday morning, after she had already left K-ville following personal checks Saturday.
Purdy said he does not believe the K-ville environment contributed to the student's illness.
All of her tentmates were able to attend the men's basketball game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Wednesday night, a tentmate said.
"Weather changes and people get sick-it was unfortunate what happened to her," another tentmate said. "Things happen sometimes, but there's no reason to change how I am day-to-day. We're not worried about ourselves, all our concerns are for her. But from what we hear, she'll be just fine."
Some tenters expressed concern about the nature of the K-ville environment. Freshman tenter Jon Bedell said K-ville should be quarantined and sanitized by bleaching every tent, and freshman tenter Cameron Blake said she thought cold weather and crowded conditions in K-ville may have been catalysts. Neither was tenting with the student.
Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta notified the student body of the instance in an e-mail Tuesday at 11:45 p.m. The student had been diagnosed that evening.
"The atmosphere was electric [when we found out]. I was shocked," said freshman Greer Mackebee, who was in a separate tent in K-ville. "It sounds like [administrators'] response was pretty swift."
Although one of the hospitalized student's tentmates said they were well-informed by administrators about the disease, freshman tenter Cameron Albin, who also was not tenting with the student, said he would like more information about meningococcal meningitis and the current case.
The Student Health Web site has been updated with information about the disease, including links to newspaper articles, Purdy said, adding that students who show any symptoms should consult Student Health.
"Mainly we're concerned about high fever, stiff neck, vomiting, just feeling awful-we should at least talk to you," he said. "If you're just concerned, we would be happy to see you too."
Julia Love contributed reporting.
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