Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 5, 1994 TAG: 9402050073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Tyler Duvall, a junior guard for the Generals, remained in the intensive care unit at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville with meningococcemia, a blood-stream form of the infection that causes meningitis.
Judy Lowe, Duvall's mother, said her son's condition had improved slightly.
"We feel like he's coming right along," Lowe said. "He's alert and has a lot of antibiotics dripping into him, but he's fairly comfortable.
"His spirits are pretty good. He can't believe what has happened to him. A lot has happened to him since last Wednesday. . . . He has been the show-and-tell of the medical school here."
Lowe said Duvall, a native of Bethesda, Md., might be moved out of intensive care soon and would remain hospitalized for about another week.
Brian Shaw, W&L's director of communications, said the team's scheduled home game at 7:30 tonight against Eastern Mennonite would be played if no more cases of the infection surfaced. A decision will be made this morning.
Shaw said 111 people had been examined at the student health center Thursday, twice the average number. The university posted a health notice Wednesday encouraging anyone with flulike symptoms or who had been in close, personal contact with Duvall to be examined.
David Copeland, a university doctor, said an above-average number of patients had been seen on Friday, also. Copeland estimated that half the students who came to the infirmary were concerned about possible contact with Duvall.
"Some of them were people who had sat next to [Duvall] in class or watched TV with him or something," Copeland said. "We're trying to follow the guidelines [for treatment] - four or more hours of contact in the past five to seven days. A casual acquaintance of Tyler's would not be at high risk."
The student health center gave 39 people antibiotics as a precaution. Copeland said the patients were taking the drug Risampan twice a day for two days.
"It's very effective for [meningococcal infections]," Copeland said.
Robert Miggins, a senior on the basketball team, took the antibiotic, along with about 20 people associated with the team.
The Generals were in Norfolk on Wednesday preparing for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference game against Virginia Wesleyan when they were told of Duvall's condition. Miggins said the team's initial reaction was shock.
"We were at the gym, shooting around and interacting with the other players, when the assistant coaches told us to go straight to the locker room and not to leave," Miggins said. "We thought maybe it was a bomb threat on campus or something. We were all very concerned.
"When we found out what it was, it got very quiet in the locker room. We got dressed quickly and got on the bus. When we got back [to Lexington], we were also concerned about us, and they took us straight to the infirmary. That's when it really started to sink in, how grave a situation it was.
"Some of the guys were concerned for our own health, but once those tensions eased, our thoughts were with [Duvall]."
Meningococcal infection can cause meningitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. The symptoms include a rash, sore throat, muscle and joint aches, fever, chills and headache.
"Because [the infection] has symptoms so much like the flu, I think it scared a lot of people," Miggins said. "There's lots of apprehension around campus. But it's dying down, and what remains is concern for Tyler."
by CNB