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Hernando Today

Meningitis Patient 'Improving'

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: February 10, 2009

Updated: 02/10/2009 12:28 pm

BROOKSVILLE - The West Hernando Middle School student diagnosed with meningitis is doing better, health officials said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, parents don't seem to be panicking over the news, school officials said.

The Hernando County Health Department confirmed Friday that the seventh grade student tested positive for bacterial meningitis.

Symptoms of bacterial meningitis include intense headache, fever, nausea and stiff neck, loss of appetite, progressive drowsiness, vomiting and rashes. Severe cases can cause delirium or coma.

Health officials have not specified how serious the student's case is, but the child was still in the hospital and appeared to be recovering by Monday, said Ann-Gayl Ellis, spokeswoman for the health department.

"The patient is improving," she said.

Family members and others who had been in close contact with the student have been evaluated, Ellis said. She would not say whether that group included other students. So far no other cases have been confirmed.

The news of the illness didn't seem to prompt parents to keep their children home, Principal Toni-Ann Noyes said Monday.

She didn't have attendance figures and district officials did not immediately provide those figures upon request, but there didn't appear to be a noticeable jump in the number of empty desks, Noyes said.

"Everything is status quo," she said.

School officials notified West Hernando parents by phone alert and are following up with letters in English and Spanish, Noyes said.

It's a good reminder for all parents in the district to make sure contact information is kept up to date, said Jim Knight, director of student services.

The type of meningitis contracted by the student is spread through intimate contact such as kissing or eating and drinking after an infected person. It rarely survives outside the body for more than a few minutes.

Health officials urge parents to keep a close eye on their children and see a doctor if they experience any of the symptoms.

Meningitis vaccine is available and now recommended for many middle, high school and college-age patients. The health can provide this vaccine to children 18 years and younger free of charge through the Vaccines for Children program.

For more information on meningitis or the vaccine, call the Hernando County Health Department at 352-540-6800, Ext. 82197, or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at www.cdc.gov.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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