LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A kindergarten student in Tippecanoe County has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
The Tippecanoe County Health Department is working with the Tippecanoe School Corporation and Indiana State Department of Health after the case was confirmed in a student at Mintonye Elementary School.
The student is being treated and can no longer spread the disease.
Staff members and families of students who had contact with the child were notified on Wednesday. The Tippecanoe County Health Department is offering preventative antibiotics to those who may have had prolonged contact with the student and their families during a clinic from 3:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Mintonye Elementary School.
The health department says that those who had casual contact with the student have very low risk of contracting the disease and do not need the preventative antibiotics.
According to the CDC bacterial meningitis is a very serious disease that can be deadly if not treated.
According to health officials a person must have direct contact with an infected person's saliva during the seven days prior to the onset of the illness in order to become infected. The disease is not spread through casual contact or by being in the same room as an infected person.
Although the risk is low, the health department is advising parents to be alert for signs of meningococcal disease:
- A sudden onset of fever
- Headache
- Stiff neck
- Confusion
- Sometimes a rash can develop
If a student develops these symptoms they should be taken to a physician or emergency room to be evaluated.
Antibiotic treatment of the disease is usually successful if it is caught early.
