{"id":28717,"date":"2014-01-23T17:05:48","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T00:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=28717"},"modified":"2014-01-23T17:14:03","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T00:14:03","slug":"nau-student-hospitalized-suspected-case-meningitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/nau-student-hospitalized-suspected-case-meningitis\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU student hospitalized with suspected case of meningitis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Campus<\/a>
Campus Health Services is available for urgent care treatment Monday through Friday in the Health and Learning Center on the Flagstaff campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 20-year-old Northern Arizona University student living on campus in Hilltop Townhomes has been admitted to Flagstaff Medical Center with a suspected case of bacterial meningitis.<\/p>\n

Meningitis is an infection of the spinal cord fluid and the fluid that surrounds the brain. It can only be spread from person-to-person by direct contact with an infected person\u2019s saliva through kissing or sharing of personal items, such as drinking glasses, utensils, smoking materials and possibly through shared food.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have identified individuals who may have had close contact with the student, and they are receiving treatment with antibiotics as a precautionary measure,\u201d said\u00a0Beth Applebee<\/strong>, executive director of NAU\u2019s Campus Health Services.<\/p>\n

Applebee said close contact refers to individuals who have prolonged contact of more than eight hours and are in close proximity, or who have been directly exposed to the individual\u2019s oral secretions between one week before the onset of symptoms until 24 hours after initiation of antibiotic therapy. Such individuals include household members, roommates and intimate contacts.<\/p>\n

Because symptoms may resemble the flu, including high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, rash, nausea and vomiting, meningococcal disease is often difficult to diagnose. Students should remain vigilant, be aware of the symptoms and keep a close eye on anyone who is unwell, Applebee said. Students who notice these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.<\/p>\n

The university is continuing to monitor the situation in close liaison with Coconino County Public Health Services District<\/a>\u00a0to respond to, treat and prevent the spread of the disease. \u201cThe situation does not pose a risk to the broader campus community,\u201d Applebee said. \u201cBacterial meningitis is not considered to be highly communicable, but can be transmitted between people who have had very close contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends that college students, particularly those living in residence halls, receive the vaccination.<\/p>\n

For information about meningococcal disease and the vaccination, visit the Campus Health Services\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0or the National Centers for Disease Control\u00a0website<\/a>, or call the NAU Now Line at (928) 523-0007.<\/p>\n

A list of frequently asked questions on meningitis is available\u00a0online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 20-year-old Northern Arizona University student living on campus in Hilltop Townhomes has been admitted to Flagstaff Medical Center with a suspected case of bacterial meningitis. Meningitis is an infection of the spinal cord fluid and the fluid that surrounds the brain. It can only be spread from person-to-person by direct contact with an infected…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}