Just nine months after two Dartmouth students were struck with the potentially fatal spinal meningitis disease, meningitis is back at Dartmouth -- but in a much less dangerous form.
The virus, now afflicting one College employee and two students, has returned in a viral form not nearly as threatening as the bacterial strain seen last winter, according to Assistant Director of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Dr. Nield Mercer.
Viral meningitis is "not much harder on the body than the typical fever," Mercer said.
He said viral and bacterial meningitis have no biological connection, and the presence of viral meningitis does not mean there is a threat of another bacterial outbreak.
Last January, a female freshman was diagnosed with the meningococcus bacteria, which can lead to spinal meningitis. The freshman did not develop spinal meningitis, but two weeks later Slade Ellis '98 was in critical condition at DHMC for two days with spinal meningitis.
Two weeks later, Kathryn Malone '98 also developed spinal meningitis. All three students fully recovered.
Mercer said meningitis cases occur year round and said he does not consider the three viral cases to be related to each other.
Mercer attributes the "suddenness" of these three cases to the "laws of probability."
Common viral symptoms include a fever and headache and a stiff neck. Without medical care, the symptoms may last from two to five days.
Treatment for the viral infection is minimal, Mercer said. DHMC will "put patients to bed and leave it up to the body's immune mechanism to throw the virus out," he said.
Bacterial meningitis is less contagious, but much more serious than the viral form, Mercer said. Symptoms begin with fever and headache, but quickly escalate.
Mercer said in the early stages of the disease, it is "impossible to tell the difference between the two forms."
Situations involving a high degree of human contact greatly increase the chance of contracting both viral and bacterial meningitis, he said.
In close quarters, such as a residence hall room, if one of the three inhabitants contracts bacterial meningitis, the "transmission rate [to the other two students] is about 5 percent," Mercer said.
Mercer said prevention of meningitis is difficult. The closer people are packed together and the more often they share cups and soda cans, the more likely it is that either of the two meningitis forms will spread.
Both bacterial and viral meningitis circulate within the respiratory system, sending the disease airborne in "respiratory droplets."
Several different viruses can cause viral meningitis, but Mercer said DHMC generally does not bother to determine the specific type of virus infection.
He said most viral cases do not get diagnosed because it is only through the painful procedure of a spinal tap that a doctor can diagnose the sickness.
He also said viral meningitis is more common in summer.
"There is a striking increase during the summer months. On average, the country sees one case per 100,000" people, he said.
