A Georgia Tech student is hospitalized and being treated for symptoms consistent with those of bacterial meningitis, the school said Wednesday.
But so far, she’s the only one on campus with symptoms, and a Tech doctor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’s not anticipating an outbreak like the one that has sickened several students at Princeton University.
“It’s a dangerous disease,” Dr. Gregory Moore said. “But rapid identification and treatment is the key to a good outcome.”
The undergraduate student, whose name was not released, is expected to recover, Moore said. After being seen by a campus doctor, the student was sent to Emory University Midtown Hospital with classic symptoms, which often include a severe headache and stiff neck, he said. She is being treated with antibiotics.
The student’s housemates have been given preventative medication, but so far, no one else has shown any symptoms, school leaders said.
“We wanted to very quickly alert those people on campus who may have been exposed,” Moore said.
The campus was informed of the student’s illness in an email Wednesday.
“Although contagious, this bacterial meningitis is only transmitted by very close personal contact with exchange of saliva or respiratory secretions,” Matt Nagel, school spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
Bacterial meningitis can be spread by sharing a drink, spoon or cigarette, Moore said. Symptoms usually are present within two days, he said.
An occasional outbreak on campus is not out of the ordinary, Moore said.
But at Princeton, seven cases have been confirmed on campus since March, prompting the school to offer a meningitis vaccine that has not yet been approved to stop the sometimes deadly disease.
For more information on bacterial meningitis, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
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