Spring Break
Hospital releases student diagnosed with meningitis
By: Kenny Ryan
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News
St. Joseph's Regional Health Center confirmed Tuesday that one of the two Texas A&M students diagnosed with bacterial meningitis was released from the hospital. The other student is still recovering in a local hospital as A&M prepares to debrief and review the University procedures in place for handling the outbreak.
Mike Krenz, an assistant director for the Office of the Dean of Student Life said, "We meet after any type of emergency situation to debrief."
Numerous departments work together during emergency health situations.
"Whenever there is something of a health nature, we always work with the Brazos County Health Department and the Student Health Services and the Office of Police Security," Krenz said. "We at the department of resident life don't make the health decisions."
The state health department worked with the doctors at Beutel in their response to the outbreak.
"We talked at length with the state health department," said Dr. Eaves-Hood, the deputy chief of staff and preventative medicine director at Beutel. "They recommended...clean hygiene in rooms and a good general cleaning of the shared bathrooms of those who were sick; and [cleaning] high-contact areas like door handles."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bacterial meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions.
Due to privacy laws Eaves-Hood could not comment on how the two Aggies contracted the disease, but she was able to comment on possible ways it could be spread.
"I learned many new ways of how students share saliva; sharing drinks seems to be the most common," Eaves-Hood said. "Especially having one common vessel to drink out of."
In response to the disease, Beutel offers free exams and vaccines.
"We had 386 students evaluated last week specifically due to exposure risk," Eaves-Hood said. "We gave 367 doses of prophylactic antibiotic. We gave somewhere between 650 and 700 vaccines, and are still booked on giving that and have ordered a couple hundred more doses."
Mike Krenz, an assistant director for the Office of the Dean of Student Life said, "We meet after any type of emergency situation to debrief."
Numerous departments work together during emergency health situations.
"Whenever there is something of a health nature, we always work with the Brazos County Health Department and the Student Health Services and the Office of Police Security," Krenz said. "We at the department of resident life don't make the health decisions."
The state health department worked with the doctors at Beutel in their response to the outbreak.
"We talked at length with the state health department," said Dr. Eaves-Hood, the deputy chief of staff and preventative medicine director at Beutel. "They recommended...clean hygiene in rooms and a good general cleaning of the shared bathrooms of those who were sick; and [cleaning] high-contact areas like door handles."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bacterial meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions.
Due to privacy laws Eaves-Hood could not comment on how the two Aggies contracted the disease, but she was able to comment on possible ways it could be spread.
"I learned many new ways of how students share saliva; sharing drinks seems to be the most common," Eaves-Hood said. "Especially having one common vessel to drink out of."
In response to the disease, Beutel offers free exams and vaccines.
"We had 386 students evaluated last week specifically due to exposure risk," Eaves-Hood said. "We gave 367 doses of prophylactic antibiotic. We gave somewhere between 650 and 700 vaccines, and are still booked on giving that and have ordered a couple hundred more doses."
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