Two incidents on two separate New York campuses point to bacterial meningitis, leading school and public health officials urging any students who might have come in contact with these students to seek immediate preventive antibiotic treatment.

In one incident, 18-year-old Craig Schiesser, a freshman at SUNY College at Oswego, was found dead on the floor of his Oneida Hall dorm room just after 9:00 AM on Friday. Exact cause of death has yet to be determined for Schiesser, who was from Westbury in Nassau Country, but bacterial meningitis is suspected. All students who may have come in contact with Schiesser in the past ten days are urged to seek medical attention at once.

The second incident, at Cornell University, involves two unidentified students who have been hospitalized in the past week with meningitis-like symptoms. School officials believe the two may have had contact with each other at one of three parties that occurred on campus in early March.

The patients, a 21-year-old female and a 19-year-old male, may have attended parties on March 6 at 124 Catherine Street and at 118 Cook Street. Also of concern is a party at the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity house at 306 Highland Road on March 8. All students attending either of these parties are urged to seek immediate medical attention.

Symptoms of bacterial meningitis include nausea and vomiting, mental confusion, and excessive fatigue. Students experiencing any of these symptoms are urged to report to the school’s medical clinic so as to minimize further spread of the illness. The disease, which is rarely fatal, is most frequently transmitted via sneezing and saliva.

Source: New York Times