Reznet

Meningitis Emergency

By Tesina Jackson

VERMILLION, S.D.--A 20-year-old woman who has studied music at the University of South Dakota is in critical condition after having been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, according to sources at the school.

USD issued a press release Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. and notified students, faculty and staff by e-mail.

The woman is at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The Rev. Joe Forcelle of St. Thomas More Newman Center in Vermillion told reznet that the woman was in critical condition. She was involved with the Newman Center, he said.

USD officials urge anyone who has come in contact with the woman to get tested. But university officials, citing legal and privacy concerns, have not released her name or any other information about her.

"Many people already know that they have come in contact with her, basically through word of mouth," said Terisa Remelius, dean of students at USD. "Those people notify the (state) Department of Health. Facebook has been playing a big part of how people find out about her.

"I know several people who have been in contact with the student," she said. "They have been put on antibiotics as a precaution."

Meningitis is a viral or bacterial infection of the fluid in a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain, according to the USD press release. Symptoms can include headache, high fever and stiff neck. The form of meningitis caused by bacteria is the most dangerous and can lead to brain damage, hearing loss, learning disability or death.

A USD volleyball player died of meningitis in August 2001 while attending a volleyball tournament in North Dakota with her college teammates. McKenzie Hartwig became ill and died in the same day.

The McKenzie Meningitis Foundation, according to its Web site, strives to educate people about meningitis and provide funds for those who cannot afford to participate in state vaccination programs.

The current USD student suffering from meningitis first showed symptoms on June 4, Remelius said. They were flu-like but worsened over the weekend. Larry Schou, chairman of the department of music, said the student was at church at the Newman Center on Sunday morning and in the hospital by that night.

Forcelle of the Newman Center said he has spent a lot of time with the family.

The university has helped to disinfect the Newman Center, he said. Given his contact with the student, he has started taking antibiotics.

The student was not enrolled in summer classes, Remelius said.

"She's not employed by campus, and she doesn’t live on campus," said Remelius. "So the likelihood of a random student getting meningitis is very low."