By Kathryn Jackson
The bacterial form of meningitis that caused the recent death of a 9-year-old Springville girl could also pose risks for BYU students ? especially those residing in the dorms.
The strain that can likely plague young adults is meningococcal meningitis. This strain is much more contagious, but is different from the one that killed Springville child Rachel Bundy, said Dr. Joseph Miner, Utah County Health Department Director.
?Anywhere there is young adults breathing together in crowded conditions, there is a risk,? Miner said.
The close quarters of college dorms are breeding grounds for meningitis. As a result, college freshmen are six times more likely to be diagnosed, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Higher risks also occur in military barracks and even dance clubs.
Oral contact from sharing drinks or kissing also put students at risk for acquiring meningitis.
Before her death, Bundy complained of flu-like symptoms, which are similar to symptoms of meningococcal meningitis, Miner said. The young girl complained of a headache and stiff neck last Wednesday and passed away in her sleep Friday.
?Students shouldn?t say ?oh it?s the flu i''ll get over it,?? Miner said. ?People overnight can drop dead from this.?
However, meningitis symptoms are much more severe than the flu, said Dr. Michael Rhodes, family practitioner at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
?If you?ve had the flu for a week and go to a doctor complaining you might have meningitis, you don?t ? you would have been dead a few days before if you did,? Rhodes said.
Rhodes said stiff necks associated with meningitis are so painful that patients have difficulty touching their chin to their chest. Headaches, also, are severe and shaking the head side to side causes excruciating pain
Meningitis could start as a sinus or ear infection, Rhodes said. But once the infected blood reaches tissue near the brain and spine, meningitis sets in and patients should be admitted to a hospital within 24 hours.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, meningococcal disease strikes about 3,000 Americans each year, leading to 300 deaths annually. It is estimated that 100 to 125 cases of meningococcal disease occur annually on college campuses and 5 to 15 students die as a result.
The Utah County Health Department offers a vaccine, menimmune, for meningococcal meningitis. The vaccine costs $74 and is highly recommended to college students.
The vaccine that would have prevented Bundy?s death is called Prevnar ? a series of vaccinations for infants at two, four, and six months. The vaccine has been available for six years.
Bundy was the second Utahn this year to die from a strain of meningitis. Madeline Hales, an East High School student, passed away in February due to an infection of bacterial meningitis.
The Bundy family could not be reached for comment.