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ARCATA, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California university is advising all students in a campus dorm to take an antibiotic after one of their dorm mates was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
Humboldt State University put out the advisory for students in Sunset Hall on Wednesday. Bacterial meningitis — a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord — is sometimes fatal and can spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions by, for example, kissing. It is not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where an infected person has been.
University officials say the student was diagnosed on Tuesday and was in critical condition at a Redding hospital.
They were in the process of reaching out to people who were in close contact with the student and therefore at higher risk.
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