Treatment for Potential Exposure to Meningitis

submitted by WLangley on Friday, October 29 2004 at 1:19 AM

On Friday, October 22, a party occurred on 611 Chamberlain Road which was attended by a UNC-CH student named Jonathan Davis. This student has since been diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis, which is better known as the bacterial form of meningitis. If you attended this party after 10:00 PM or have had face-to-face contact with Davis within the last 10 days, please visit the NCSU Student Health Center, at 2815 Cates Avenue, to receive preventative treatment, free of charge, consisting of a single dose of the Cipro antibiotic. If you have already received the meningococcal meningitis vaccine and believe you've been exposed, you should still visit the Student Health Center, as the vaccine cannot cover all bacteria that could cause meningitis.

If you think that you have been exposed, please visit the Student Health Center at one of these times:

Friday, October 29: from 8:00AM until 9:00PM
Saturday, October 30: from 8:30AM until 11:30AM

Possible symptoms include:
-severe headache
-fever
-nausea
-vomiting
-light sensitivity
-stiff neck
-sleepiness
-confusion

The Student Health Center is located at 2815 Cates Avenue and can be reached by calling (919)515-2563.
Student Health Press Release

posted by Maugan on Friday, October 29 2004 at 7:32 AM

that guy's name should not have been posted openly on the internet like that, you have completely breeched his right to privacy!!!!!!!!!!!!

10/29/2004 8:16:31 AM

Honey, its in the paper to alert people to possible infection, especially if someone made out with him Friday. Its a public health scare, sadly.

Cipro will tear your stomach up, eat yogurt.

10/29/2004 8:37:16 AM

^^ I completely understand where you are coming from, however I think it was a decision they made just to be on the safe side and be upfront as possible with everyone. They just wanted to attack the problem before it possibly turned into a bigger problem, but I do understand what you are saying.

10/29/2004 8:45:04 AM

aha a modern day leper

10/29/2004 8:58:36 AM

OMFG, PATRIOT ACT!!!

10/29/2004 9:12:34 AM

good thing i stocked all that cipro during the anthrax scare
i'm all set

10/29/2004 9:39:50 AM

actually you know, he could have consented to have his name released, i didn't think about that. its not common to release names though.



[Edited on October 29, 2004 at 9:50 AM. Reason : .]

10/29/2004 9:48:52 AM

YES it is common to release a name so that the public can come forward if they have been in contact with him...
this could easily turn into a life or death situation if the people who were in contact with him don't receive care immediately

10/29/2004 11:27:47 AM

hey carolina, thanks for giving us the menengitis

10/29/2004 12:01:55 PM

gotta love those chapel thrill diseases

10/29/2004 7:36:46 PM

I was at that party, and that party was so packed it took me 5 minutes to walk through the living room. It sucks for the girls who live in that house. That's what you get for sharing shot glasses and marijuana blunts.

10/29/2004 11:07:51 PM

STD STD STD

10/30/2004 10:28:44 AM

A medical perspective on meningococcal meningitis,

an acute infectious disease of children and young adults, caused by Neisseria meningitidis characterized by fever, headache, photophobia, vomiting, nuchal rigidity, seizures, coma, and a purpuric eruption; even in the absence of meningitis, meningococcemia can induce toxic phenomena such as vasculitis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, shock, and Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome due to adrenal hemorrhage; late complications include paralysis, mental retardation, and gangrene of extremities. Syn: cerebrospinal fever, epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis.

Approximately 2500 cases of invasive meningococcal disease occur annually in the U.S., with a case fatality rate of 10–15%. The incidence of endemic meningococcal disease peaks between late winter and early spring. Attack rates and case fatality rates are highest among children aged 6–12 months. Household exposure to tobacco smoke is a risk factor for meningococcal disease in children. Organisms are spread from person to person by direct contact and in saliva and respiratory secretions. The epidemiology of meningococcal disease is poorly understood. The nasopharyngeal carriage rate in the general population is 5–10%. This asymptomatic carrier state can persist for months or years and may confer protection against invasive disease. During epidemics of meningococcal meningitis, the carrier rate can approach 95%, yet fewer than 1% may develop the disease. Diagnosis is established by the finding of meningococci in cerebrospinal fluid or blood. Because meningococcemia can progress fulminantly to an irreversible stage, intravenous penicillin G, ampicillin, or chloramphenicol is begun as soon as the diagnosis is suspected, usually before laboratory confirmation. Intensive support of vital functions is crucial during the acute phase. Close contacts of known cases are treated prophylactically with rifampin or ciprofloxacin; mass prophylaxis may be appropriate in a confirmed institutional outbreak. A quadrivalent vaccine has been effective in preventing meningococcal disease due to serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y. Shortcomings of the vaccine are that it does not protect against serogroup B, which causes 30–40% of meningococcal disease in the U.S.; does not interrupt the carrier state; does not induce immunity quickly enough to protect a person already infected; and protects for only 4–5 years. Routine immunization is recommended only for military recruits, travelers to endemic areas, and others known to be at long-term high risk. A major objection to infant vaccination has been the poor induction of immunity in this age group to serogroup C, which causes 45% of meningitis in the U.S. Use of a meningococcal C vaccine conjugated to protein has yielded high initial titers of anticapsular and bactericidal antibody in infants and toddlers, as well as more prolonged protection and better response to booster doses.

-Stedman's

10/30/2004 12:55:07 PM

Quote :

"that guy's name should not have been posted openly on the internet like that, you have completely breeched his right to privacy!!!!!!!!!!!!"

his parents consented... hes my real good friend, his parents were of the thought that releasing his name may help people see if they need treatment. they dont want this to happen to any one else

but hes been talking and breathing on his own since thursday night and he recognized all of us who visited

just keep JD in your thoughts

10/30/2004 11:40:33 PM

anyone else notice those symptoms are the same as a sever hangover ?

10/31/2004 11:55:31 AM

This doesn't tend to happen to me when I drink too much.

11/1/2004 1:39:38 PM

Quote :

"That's what you get for sharing shot glasses and marijuana blunts. "

good job calling out the girls, whose address is posted, on a website frequented by the police.

11/1/2004 5:46:22 PM

he doesnt smoke weed...

his rash didnt look like that it was like splotches that were about the color of like a blood blister... essentially they are blood clots in the capilaries...

11/2/2004 12:30:33 AM

gat damnit



another J. Davis fuckin our shit up

11/2/2004 4:06:51 PM

I've been itching to ask this, but is there a Chamberlain Road, or is it referring to Chamberlain Street, which I live on?

11/2/2004 4:13:49 PM

ummm if you walk straight up in between el rodeo and i love ny pizza.... thats the road

11/2/2004 4:35:47 PM

i wish I could get treated for exposure to niggergitis

11/5/2004 3:23:08 AM