THIRD WV STUDENT GETS MENINGITIS

(04/02/2009)
Three West Virginia students have been diagnosed with a life-threatening strain of meningitis, with one of them dying.

Marion County Health Department Nursing Director Cyndee Kiger said a Lincoln High School student is being treated at United Hospital Center in Clarksburg for bacterial meningitis.

The Bureau for Public Health is making sure health officials in Marion and Harrison counties have access to antibiotics for students.

A student at a Shinnston school was hospitalized last month with the disease and has responded to treatment.

In March, a 19-year-old freshman at West Virginia University, Chelsea Kanatus of Virginia, died of the disease.

Meningitis spreads by human saliva or mucous.