Bentley College Confirms Second Case Of Bacterial Meningitis

Waltham, MA (AHN) - Another student at Bentley College in Massachusetts has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, barely five months after a first case was confirmed. The student, who was not identified, has been moved out of an intensive care unit and is recuperating.

Michelle Walsh, a Bentley College spokeswoman said that the school was very aggressive in tracking down anyone who had close contact with the sick student and about 200 students were given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

Last October, 2007, an 18-year-old Bentley College freshman Erin Ortiz died from bacterial meningitis. The school said the two cases were not related.

"The (state) Department of Public Health has assured us the cases are unrelated. The original sources of either student's meningitis can't be traced," Walsh said. "According to the Department of Public Health it's like lightning striking twice in the same place."

Bacterial meningitis is deadly as it inflames one's meninges due to a bacterial infection. It can be easily transmitted especially through saliva or the coming in contact with the respiratory or secretions on throat. It has a lot of symptoms to be considered, some of them are just ordinary common illness such as high fever, headache and nausea.