ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602260056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
A Radford University student diagnosed with a meningococcal bacterial infection is the ninth person in Virginia to suffer the life-threatening disease this year, a doctor said.
The student, who lives off campus and asked not to be identified, is hospitalized at Radford Community Hospital and is responding well to antibiotics, said Dr. J. Henry Hershey, director of the New River Health District.
Two of the meningococcal cases this year have been fatal, claiming the lives of a freshman at Virginia Military Institute and a 13-year-old boy in Prince William County, Hershey said Friday.
The bacteria can infect either the bloodstream, the central nervous system or both, Hershey said.
``Both can be serious and deadly, and both can be treated,'' he said.
The Radford student has the blood-borne form of the disease, as did the VMI student, Hershey said.
A James Madison University student also is afflicted by the infection. She was taken to the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville on Thursday and remained listed in critical condition Saturday evening.
The symptoms include high fever, severe headache, stiff neck and skin rash.
- Associated Press
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