Houston Student Dies From Meningitis, Schoolmates To Get Medical Exam

Houston, TX (AHN) - An eighth grader from Houston died Friday from meningitis prompting city health officials to set a medical exam for students who rode with the victim on a bus to see if they were infected.

The City Health Department will also examine the bus driver of the Revere Middle School as a precaution to contain a possible outbreak of bacterial meningitis.

While a test is being done on the victim to determine if she died from the fatal and contagious type of meningitis or from the minor viral meningitis, the department is considering bacterial meningitis as the cause of the girl's death.

Bacterial meningitis or meningococcal disease is caused by the bacterium Neiserria meningitidis. It infects people exposed to the nose and throat discharge of a carrier. An infected person suffers fever, headache, lethargy, stiff neck and back, nausea and vomiting, and sometimes rash within three to four days from contracting the disease.