Salt Lake City Elementary Student Develops Rare Strain of Meningitis
200 Students Receive Oral Antibiotics as a Precautionary Measure
That was because a first-grader had been hospitalized with meningitis over the weekend, according to a report in The Salt Lake Tribune. The strain with which the student had been hospitalized is known as the Neisseria meningococcal disease.
About 200 students received their first oral doses of antibiotics and will continue receving doses over the next two days. And Primary Children's Medical Center, where the student has been hospitalized since Sunday, also gave the parents of potentially affected students extra doses in vials to be administered twice a day when the students aren't at school.
Common symptoms of the disease include a stiff neck, severe headache, a fever and a rash, developing over either a one-to-two-day period or within a few hours. Others may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort in brightly lit rooms or sleepiness. As the disease continues patients may also have seizures.
The student's name has not been published due to federal privacy laws, according to information obtained from Escalante Elementary School, 1800 S. 900 W. in Salt Lake City where the student attended.
On Sunday officials from the health department first contacted then met with the parents of students at the school who were possibly in close contact with the affected student and answered questions, also suggesting that as a precautionary measure, all students should receive "an oral medication given over two days."
"The student is doing well but is still hospitalized," said Pamela Davenport, vice president of communications for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
Dr. Dagmar Vitek, SLVHD medical director added "anyone not showing the symptoms by Wednesday will not get the illness," and that "meningitis is most easily contracted when [you] have ten hours of exposure or more."
Sources: The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News
Published by B.J. Crock
J-school grad, teacher and soccer coach who is a widely published sportswriter and reporter. Currently I am a professional blogger for sites Reality TV Circus and American Idle. View profile
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- A first-grader contracted a rare form of meningitis called Neisseria meningococcal disease.
- As a result the Salt Lake Valley Health Department urged all kindergarten and first-graders to receive antibiotics.
- And other parents were given the option to have their children vaccinated as a precautionary measure.