The autumn season is well underway at Syracuse University, and with that comes sickness. This year, however, a case of bacterial meningitis was documented at the university.
This case of the serious, and possibly deadly, disease comes just one year after a large outbreak of mumps on the Syracuse campus.
University health services sent out an email stating that the sickness had been documented and that the infected student had been removed from campus for treatment and the safety of others. Mariah Gathers, a student at the university, said that she fully believes in the school’s ability to deal with this situation.
“I feel that because they already got the student off campus, we should be okay for now, and as long as, you know, we get, we, we’re updated about it and we know if there’s any more cases, I feel that it should be handled pretty well.”
Meningitis is not spread by brief contact or breathing the same air as someone, but rather through close or prolonged contact or through shared respiratory and throat secretions – saliva and spit. Two major ways the sickness is spread are through coughing or kissing.
According to the CDC, most carriers of the bacteria never become sick, however the University still recommends that students seek treatment if they feel like something is wrong.
“If I find, like, I’m feeling any type of weird I’ll just go to health services just to get myself checked out so I know, like, in advance if anything’s happening.” said Mariah Gathers.
The most common symptoms of meningitis include sudden fever, headache, stiff neck, and nausea.
