Following the Friday hospitalization of a female student for an illness with meningitis-like symptoms, UB officials quelled rumors Sunday, saying the student does not have the deadly disease though UB has taken extra precautions just to be safe.
Friends rushed the student, whose name was not disclosed, to the Buffalo Women and Children's Hospital from Clement Hall when she came down with an abnormally high fever, which is one of meningitis' main symptoms, officials said.
"I cannot stress enough that this girl does not have meningitis," said Frank Carnevale, director of Health Services and Student Wellness. "That's the most important thing."
Several of the affected student's closest contacts and friends were notified of her hospitalization and asked to go to Michael Hall for precautionary antibiotics. Although the possibility of meningitis has been ruled out, the still-unidentified illness could have been caused by the meningococcus bacteria, which causes meningitis, said Carnevale.
Meningococcus, which can also cause blood infections, spreads by close contact and actions such as kissing, sexual contact, and the sharing of food, drinks and cigarettes.
Carnevale said it cannot be spread by "casual contact" and that even if the affected student had the vaccine, the shot does not completely prevent all kinds of meningitis.
"I think it's important for students to know that the meningitis vaccine covers some types of bacterial meningitis but not all, and it does not cover viral meningitis," said Carnevale.
Carnevale said vaccines for certain bacterial meningitis are new in the past five years and that even though the woman's illness was not identified as any of the meningitis sub-types, the university would rather be safe than sorry when it came to everyone with whom she had recently been in contact.
"Basically, we were just playing it safe," he said.
Sarah Ramsey, a freshman psychology major, is a friend of the ill student who went to Michael Hall for the antibiotics. She said she had felt sick all week, but never made the connection to her friend and has felt better since taking the antibiotics.
"I still didn't make the connection until I read the symptoms sheet," she said.
According to Ramsey, the woman had also been taken to the hospital the prior night for trouble breathing and was diagnosed with the flu and bronchitis.
Ramsey said the doctor at Michael Hall assured her and the others that they were not at serious risk. Whatever the disease was, he said, it was caught early enough.
Since the antibiotics, Ramsey hasn't worried about her own health, but she remains concerned for her friend, who is still in the hospital.
"It scares me for her though, because she's so sick already and none of us are allow to visit her now because she's still contagious," she said.
Carnevale said, however, that the prognosis is good for Ramsey's friend.
"Her trajectory is one of improvement," he said. "She is expected to make a full recovery."
Carnevale said if any student is worried about meningitis, he or she can call Health Services and Student Wellness any time at 829-3316. The common symptoms of meningitis are high fever, stiff neck, eye sensitivity to light, blurred vision, vomiting and rashes.
"Meningitis is a sporadic illness," Carnevale said. "It just pops up from time to time."
Every few years, he said, a case of it appears on a college campus, which causes surrounding universities to start meningitis awareness programs.
"The goal is to educate people, not to frighten or scare them," he said.
