ELLWOOD CITY, PA. High school warns about meningitis

No secondary cases have been reported.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -- Lincoln High School officials have disinfected water fountains, hall passes and computer keyboards after learning that a student may have contracted bacterial meningitis.
Superintendent Frank Aloi said the district was informed Tuesday that a student may have the highly contagious infection that can be deadly if not treated. It is passed by the exchange of saliva.
Letters to parents
Letters were sent home to parents Tuesday about the infected person. School officials would not identify the student. Aloi said the high school was the only building affected in the district.
Richard McGarvey of the Pennsylvania Department of Health said tests were inconclusive as to whether the student was infected with bacterial meningitis, but the student had all of the symptoms: high fever, vomiting, rash and stiff neck and back.
McGarvey said the student appears to be recovering.
Health officials do not know what causes bacterial meningitis.
About the infection
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. People sometimes refer to it as spinal meningitis. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection.
McGarvey said that family and friends of the student were given antibiotics and no secondary cases have surfaced.
"We usually see about 120 cases of bacterial meningitis a year and most people recover from it. We don't usually see secondary cases," he said.
McGarvey added that death occurs in about 10 percent of those infected.