ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Two universities and two counties are working together in hopes of saving lives after a college student was found to have meningitis.
The student, who attends the University of Michigan, is hospitalized and there’s concern for the people that may have come in contact with them at events at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
The event at the University of Michigan took place on Jan. 20 and the event at Michigan State University was on Jan. 22 and had more than 200 people in attendance. The universities and county health departments have alerted anyone who was there and could have been exposed.
“This particular infection is rare. They’re both bacterias and viruses that can cause this type of infection, meningitis. So, we’re waiting on additional details for that subtype, but we can’t really delay the antibiotic treatment for anyone that might have been exposed,” Susan Ringler Cerniglia said.
Cerniglia is the public information officer with the Washtenaw County Health Department.
Meningitis is passed by close contact through saliva or mucus. That means it can be passed through kissing, touching, sharing a drink, or sharing utensils. Officials also have concerns about exposure in close quarters for extended periods.
People who attended a Delta Kappa Epsilon residence event at 800 Oxford Road in Ann Arbor on Jan. 20 from 10:30 p.m. through 12 a.m. are at risk. So are people who attended an off-campus event on Jan 22 that was hosted by Sigma Beta Rho at Club Rush.
Everyone who attended those events should go on antibiotics, officials said. Michigan State University is holding a medication dispensing event to get those antibiotics to anyone who was at the event. University of Michigan is having the same thing on their campus.
It is not an outbreak. There aren’t any other cases that have been identified.
Click here to view the joint press release from the Washtenaw County Health Department and the University of Michigan.
Read: Confirmed case of meningitis under investigation in Washtenaw County