A San Diego State University student was being treated in a hospital Wednesday after being diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis, university officials said.

Campus administrators and county health officials are “monitoring the case” and have notified those who were in close contact with the undergraduate student, authorities said.

The student’s name was not released.

“Meningococcal disease can be serious and deadly, but it is not spread through casual contact,” San Diego County Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten said in a news release. “The risk to those who were not in close, direct contact is minimal.”


The bacteria can be spread through close contact such as kissing, living in close quarters or sharing drinking glasses, eating utensils, cigarettes, pipes or water bottles, county health officials said.

It can also be transmitted through the air by sneezing or coughing droplets of respiratory secretions into the air, or through speaking closely face-to-face, said Dr. Cynthia Cornelius, the university’s medical director.

“SDSU’s Student Health Services is working with the San Diego County Public Health Services and also notifying individuals believed to have had prolonged contact with the student who has been diagnosed, recommending that they receive preventive antibiotic treatment,” the university said in its statement.

Early symptoms usually associated with meningococcal meningitis include high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, rash, nausea, vomiting and lethargy, university and county authorities said. The symptoms may resemble the flu.


“Because the disease progresses rapidly, often in as little as 12 hours, prompt diagnosis and treatment are critical for recovery,” campus officials said.

Anyone with potential exposure to the student who develops any of those symptoms was urged to immediately contact a healthcare provider or emergency room.

The SDSU case is the eighth reported case of meningococcal disease in San Diego County this year, county health officials said. On average, 10 cases have been reported annually over the past five years.

The meningococcal bacteria can be deadly, as it was for SDSU freshman Sara Stelzer when she contracted Meningitis B in October 2014. Her illness and subsequent death set off a massive treatment campaign on the campus, with nearly 1,000 students requesting antibiotics or a medical evaluation in the days after Stelzer was stricken.


Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710


alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com