Updated Information Regarding Local Meningitis Cases

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This information is being distributed to all UW-Eau Claire faculty, staff and students.
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A student from the Chippewa Valley Technical College is being treated at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire for meningococcal disease.
       The Eau Claire City-County Health Department is continuing its investigation, but at this time no link has been identified between this case and the case reported earlier this week at UW-Eau Claire. Sean Coleman, a UW-Eau Claire sophomore who lived in Katharine Thomas Hall, died Monday of complications from meningococcal disease.
       Health officials emphasize that the disease is difficult to contract; members of the general campus community are not considered to be at risk. The bacterium is spread by intimate or direct contact with saliva and respiratory secretions. Direct contact might include things like sharing utensils or kissing. Simply sharing classroom or office space with someone who is infected would not put you at risk.
       Medical professionals from UW-Eau Claire Health Services are available to answer questions from students and their parents about the disease and to screen students who might need preventative antibiotics because of having had intimate or direct contact with someone who had the disease. A temporary hotline is available at (715) 836-5955.
       Given the small likelihood that the disease will spread, health officials are not recommending that students be vaccinated for the disease. However, for students wanting to take extra precautions, a vaccine is available that is effective against the C strain of meningococcal disease, which is what was responsible for Sean Coleman’s death. The vaccine costs $70. Payment options are available. Call the hotline at (715) 836-5955 to make an appointment. The Health Services main number is (715) 836-4311.
       UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff are encouraged to contact their primary physicians if they have questions or concerns regarding meningococcal disease. 
       Meningococcal disease is caused by a bacterium that can produce infection of a person’s bloodstream, spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. The symptoms can vary widely and may include fever, headache, vomiting, stiff neck and a rash.
       For additional information about meningitis, see Health Services’ Web site.
       UW-Eau Claire’s News Bureau will post campus communications regarding local cases of meningococcal disease on its Web site. You can access the information through the Headline News section of the university’s home page.
       Students are encouraged to forward this e-mail to their parents or to find other ways to ensure that their parents have accurate information about meningococcal disease.

  News Bureau

Updated: April 25, 2002