Student from Champion treated for meningitis

CHAMPION — A 20-year-old student at the University of Cincinnati remains in serious condition in a Cincinnati hospital where he is being treated for bacterial meningitis.

Andrew Barnes, of Champion, remains in Good Samaritan Hospital, where he’s being treated with antibiotics for the infection — potentially fatal if it remains untreated.

Bernadette Watson, public information officer for the Cincinnati Health Department, said Wednesday that Barnes had not been feeling well before going to a Delta Tau Delta fraternity party Friday.

Watson said Barnes was admitted to the hospital after his mother arrived in Cincinnati on Sunday because he wasn’t feeling better.

The disease causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

Watson said about 100 people who were at the party have been treated with prophalaxix, an antibiotic, at the university’s student health center, city health department or by private physicians.

The infection is spread through close personal contact with oral secretion.

Also given the antibiotic was Barnes’ father because his son kissed him before returning to the university after visiting home for Father’s Day.

Bacterial meningitis occurs in people of all ages, but is more common in infants and young children and those over age 60.

Teenagers and college students are slightly more at risk for the disease because of time spent in close contact with many of their peers.