Meningitis confirmed in Dacula

By Jaime Sarrio
jaime.sarrio@gwinnettdailypost.com

DACULA — An eighth-grader at Dacula Middle School was diagnosed Wednesday with bacterial meningitis, according to health officials.
The female student, who could not be identified by school officials because of medical privacy laws, remains in the hospital, but is expected to recover from the sometimes fatal infection, said Vernon Goins, spokesman for the East Metro Health District.
“She’s improving and responding positively to the antibiotics,” Goins said.
Health officials confirmed Wednesday the student was infected with bacterial meningitis, which is deadly in almost 15 percent of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Goins said the health department located every person that may have come in close contact with the student and advised them to be tested for the infection.
No other possible cases had yet been reported, he said.
“It’s like a lottery,” he said. “It is around all the time and if a person is susceptible to it and comes in contact, then they may have a bad reaction.”
According to the CDC, bacterial meningitis is more rare and fatal than viral meningitis. Both are infections of fluid in the spinal cord and around the brain.
Bacteria meningitis is spread though activities such as kissing, but not by breathing or in casual contact. Those who contract the illness may become sick with flu-like symptoms such as a high fever, nausea and vomiting.
Dacula Middle Principal Georgia Barnwell sent a letter home to parents Wednesday to notify them of the infection. It followed a letter Tuesday notifying parents of the possibility.
She said the student has not been at school since Nov. 25 — the day before the Thanksgiving holidays — which lowers the probability another student will contract the illness.
Barnwell said the absentee rate Wednesday was average, and students did not seem scared of contracting the illness.
“It’s been very normal today,” she said. “We were ready to help if a child seemed overly concerned or worried, but that didn’t really happen.”
Shelly Clarke, mother of a Dacula Middle seventh-grader, said she wasn’t concerned about her daughter having the virus, partly because the school kept her so informed.
“If it had happened after Thanksgiving break, I would have been more worried,” she said. “I’ll watch my child more closely, but I’m not very concerned.”
Seventh-grader Sarah Pursser said the school day went as usual, other than an announcement updating the condition of the eighth-grader.
“It’s kinda freaky, but not surprising,” she said. “It’s getting cold, so more people  do get sick.”
Letters to parents and a link to more information about bacterial meningitis are posted on the school’s Web site, www.daculamiddleschool.org. <-->