A South Green resident has contracted a probable case of viral meningitis, but Ohio University’s dean of students does not think it is linked to the prior cases of bacterial meningitis.
The female Foster House resident, a sophomore, is expected to make a full recovery and is now being treated at a Columbus hospital for viral meningitis, the less serious form of the disease, Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said.
Because viral meningitis is contagious, Foster House was cleaned and disinfected yesterday morning to prevent the spread of the virus. Students who share classes with the sick student have also been notified via email.
OU offered antibiotics to students living in Foster House yesterday. Students might still take the antibiotic at no cost at Campus Care from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow.
If the case is confirmed to be viral meningitis, the antibiotics will have no effect,
but the university is taking extra precautions because of the outbreak of bacterial meningitis this past year. Eight OU students have been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis since 2009.
“If this happened five years ago, we probably wouldn’t do anything,” Lombardi said. “… But we’re being extra precautious given our history.”
The student went to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital last night because she was
experiencing symptoms — high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, sleepiness or trouble waking up, nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite — and was then transferred to a hospital in Columbus.
“I think she reacted very well because we say go directly to the emergency room if you have these symptoms,” Lombardi said.
One OU student, Andrea Robinson, died in February 2010 of type B bacterial
meningitis, which is not prevented by the meningitis vaccine.
Viral meningitis, however, is “rarely fatal in people with normal immune systems,” and patients typically stop experiencing symptoms within seven to 10 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Meningitis is typically spread through contact with the saliva or mucus of an
infected person.
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