College reacts to student illness

CANTON — A junior at St. Lawrence University was sent to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., this weekend with a possible case of bacterial meningitis.

Doctors at Canton-Potsdam Hospital, Potsdam, gave Courtney L. Washington, of Honeoye Falls, a preliminary diagnosis Saturday night and sent her to the Vermont hospital. In a preliminary diagnosis, doctors look at a patient's symptoms and bacterial slides to determine whether a case is likely to be a case of meningitis. Without a confirmed culture from the lab, a case cannot be confirmed officially, according to Patricia A. Ellis, director of the campus health and counseling center.

The cultured diagnosis takes a couple of days, but even without it, college officials are taking the student's symptoms seriously.

"Quite frankly, in college health, this is our biggest fear because it proceeds rapidly from being mildly ill to shock," Ms. Ellis said. "The average onset is 22 hours, so it's very, very quick."

Miss Washington's condition was listed as "good" Monday, according to hospital officials.

Though five people at St. Lawrence have received antibiotics as a precautionary measure, there are no other suspected cases at any of the other St. Lawrence County colleges. Twenty-five people went to the SLU health center when it opened under a health alert late Sunday afternoon. On Monday, a "trickle" of students was coming in to be assessed, according to the health center director.

SUNY Canton, Clarkson University in Potsdam and SUNY Potsdam all have sent e-mails alerting students, faculty and staff of the case at SLU. None of the four schools requires that students be vaccinated before attending. Instead, they have adopted state law, which says students must either be vaccinated or sign a waiver declining the shot.

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Though it is not easily transmitted, the disease is contagious and can be serious.

"It's not very common, but when it happens, you pay attention. You don't survive if you're not treated," Ms. Ellis said. "It's every practitioner's fear that you will diagnose someone with the flu or a cold when it's really meningitis."

Most north country students have been vaccinated, including slightly less than 90 percent at Clarkson and 70 percent at SUNY Canton. Rates for SUNY Potsdam were not available. Approximately 95 percent of St. Lawrence students have been vaccinated.

Because of student privacy laws, Ms. Ellis could not say whether Miss Washington had received the vaccine, which is 90 percent effective and protects against four of the six strains of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. St. Lawrence University is the only one of the four schools to offer meningitis vaccines on campus.

"Most of our students get it, but we do have a few who choose to sign the waiver," Ms. Ellis said. "In places where there is communal living, so in dorms and especially among freshmen, it's a risk. That's why New York state requires that they either get vaccinated or sign the waiver."

MENINGITIS SYMPTOMS

The flu-like symptoms of bacterial meningitis are:

■ Fever and chills / Headaches / Nausea