http://www.freep.com/news/health/ebac3_20021003.htm
October 3, 2002
BY EMILIA ASKARI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Parents with children in Plymouth-Canton Community Schools flooded school nurses with calls Wednesday as news spread that a Canton High School student had contracted bacterial meningitis, a contagious disease that can be crippling -- even fatal -- if it is not treated early.
"She's just fine," said Frank Ruggirello, the district's director of community relations. "They caught it early."
County health officials did not recommend any further course of treatment for the girl's classmates. But they do want parents to be aware of the early symptoms of meningitis, which can mimic a cold with a sudden high fever. Sometimes this is accompanied by a rash, weakness, fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, changes in behavior, earaches and stiff neck.
The incubation period is two to 10 days.
School officials sent a letter home with students Monday asking parents to question their children and report anything unusual to their doctors.
Ruggirello said there is no need for great alarm. "The only way you can contract this is direct contact with nose or throat secretions of the infected person," he added. "Sitting next to the person in class, you're not going to get it."
"The health department called this an isolated case," Ruggirello said.
In a typical year, there are several outbreaks of bacterial meningitis in Michigan schools. It spreads particularly quickly among college students living in dormitories.
A vaccine that protects against meningitis exists. Health authorities are split on use of the vaccine.
Contact EMILIA ASKARI at 313-223-4461 or askari@freepress.com.
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