Monroe resident, diagnosed with meningitis, on the mend

MONROE-A 19-year-old SUNY Delhi student who was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis following her return home to Monroe for Thanksgiving is recovering and may be released from the hospital within days, Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Jean M. Hudson said Wednesday. The case began Nov. 24 when the student, who was not identified, came back home to Monroe from school in Delaware County. She was not feeling well. Early the following morning, she went to the emergency room at the Arden Hill campus of Orange Regional Medical Center in Goshen. She was then transferred to Westchester County Medical Center with a presumptive diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis. Meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial infection, which can cause meningitis or a blood stream infection. Symptoms can include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting. Bacterial meningitis may be fatal and should be treated promptly with antibiotics. Close contacts, such as household members and anyone in direct contact with the patient's oral secretions, should be given prophylactic antibiotics to prevent infection. Orange County close contacts were identified and received treatment. Delaware County Department of Health worked with SUNY Delhi to identify and treat the student's close contacts there. Hudson said the young woman is now doing very well and that she has been moved from intensive care into a regular hospital room. The health commissioner said she expects the student to be released in a few days. Hudson also said there has been no other case of the infection.