ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CLEMSON, S.C.
A Clemson student has died from meningitis less than a week after she visited the campus health center for a sore throat.
Tiffanie Collins, 19, died Monday in Fairfax, Va., from a meningococcal infection.
Health officials have treated people who had close contact with Collins in the past week. Meningitis is spread mainly through saliva.
Students finished exams last week and most have left for the summer, officials said Tuesday.
Dr. Stuart Clarkson said Collins visited the health center May 1, but tests revealed nothing unusual.
``This disease is uncommon, although carriage of the germ that causes the disease is very common,'' said Dr. Eric Brenner of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. ``Between 5 and 10 percent of the population has the germ without being sick.''
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB