Although there still is a small possibility that students may contract the meingococcus bacteria, Health Services Director Dr. Jack Turco said spring weather reduces the likelihood of the bacteria spreading.
"Traditionally, meningitis has the highest incidence in the winter months," Turco said. "Although it certainly can still occur."
The bacteria can lead to spinal meningitis, a potentially fatal disease that causes an inflammation of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Last term, two Dartmouth freshmen-- Slade Ellis '98 and Kathryn Malone '98 -- contracted spinal meningitis and one student was found to have the meningococcus bacteria in her blood stream, Turco said.
Ellis was in critical condition in Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Malone was in serious condition in the Medical Center. Both students have fully recovered.
The bacteria travels through the air and is highly contagious. But because the bacteria is spread by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of an infected person, there is less opportunity for the disease to spread in the spring when fewer people are sick, Turco said.
A similar outbreak of the virus at other colleges resulted in one fatality at Cornell University last week and another at Amherst College in March.
On April 24, Cornell freshman Jeffrey Stenstrom, died of meningitis after being hospitalized for five days.
Cornell's Health Services Director Dr. Leslie Elkind met with New York state health department officials to discuss the possibility of immunizing the entire campus, according to The Cornell Daily Sun.
Nishrha Adhvaryu, a junior at Amherst, died shortly after being hospitalized for spinal meningitis on March 14.
The same day, Sarah Fabian, a freshman at Amherst, was also stricken with the disease. Fabian is expected to completely recover, according to Amherst's Public Affairs Office.
Turco said after the first case of meningitis at Dartmouth was discovered near the end of January, hundreds of students went to Dick's House to see if they had meningitis.
Turco said five to 10of the students who were examined required more testing and were given spinal taps. He said a few others were given blood culture tests.
Ellis, who was diagnosed with the disease on Jan. 26, said, "I have been fine for a long time -- ever since the two weeks after I got out of the hospital."
According to Turco, Malone was the last known person at the College to contract spinal meningitis. She was diagnosed with the disease on Feb. 14.
"I don't have any lasting symptoms," Malone said. "I was in the hospital for three days and then in Dick's House for a couple of days. I just felt tired afterwards."
Turco said there is no way to be certain about how many students carried the infection during the winter months.
"No one knows what the carrier rate is," Turco said. "According to the Center for Disease Control, up to 10 percent of the population can become carriers during an outbreak."
Turco said most people have a natural immunity to the disease.
"The bacteria are around all the time," he said. "It's almost more surprising that meningitis doesn't happen every year."
Turco said meningitis continues to be a constant concern for College health officials.
Prior to the cluster of cases in winter term, the last outbreak of meningitis at Dartmouth was in the mid-1980s.
