Kelly Cameron '04 was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis this weekend and taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for treatment, where she was listed in satisfactory condition yesterday.
Cameron left intensive care on Monday and is "progressing very well," according to DHMC spokesperson Deborah Kimbell.
Friend Lauren Wondolowski '04, who visited Cameron yesterday, said she was "feeling much better" and would likely be able to return to the College on Saturday.
Director of Health Services Jack Turco stressed that a single case of the bacterial disease should not serve as cause for alarm.
"This is a terrifying illness, but I don't think students are at any higher risk of developing it than last week or two weeks ago," he said.
Meningitis, a disease that causes inflammation of the lining of the spinal cord and brain, is "in general not very contagious," Turco said. He explained that the illness instead periodically "pops up" in isolated incidents, with little clue to as to why it strikes certain people or places.
Though the disease can prove deadly if not detected in its early stages, Turco said in this case "the student was treated in time" for antibiotics to prove fully effective.
Cameron, a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, first noticed symptoms of the illness on Friday evening, when she complained of a headache, according to Wondolowski.
The following morning, she sent a Blitzmail message to other members asking to be driven to the hospital, and arrived at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center by 11 a.m. that day.
She was immediately placed in an intensive care unit and given intravenous antibiotics, Wondolowski said, with Turco keeping house residents updated on her condition.
The Dartmouth College Health Service took measures to prevent any further incidences of the disease, administering a dose of the antibiotic Cipro to members of the sorority on Saturday, Turco said.
The meningitis bacteria cannot survive for long outside the body, Turco said, so only those who may have had "intimate contact" with the student were given the medication.
Currently, Kimbell said, "doctors are feeling very good about her prospects" and are hoping that Cameron will "be up and walking around a little bit" today.
Surprisingly, the student had received the meningitis vaccine, according to Wondowski, but Turco said the current vaccine does not guarantee immunity.
"It doesn't work 100 percent of the time, but it's the best we have as of now," he said.
Turco estimated that approximately 70 percent of Dartmouth students have received the vaccine, adding that he "strongly recommended" all students to be vaccinated.
Adults contract the disease only rarely, he said, as people generally will have built up antibodies to the meningococcus bacteria by later in life. The bacteria itself is present in benign form in up to 40 percent of people at any given time.
On a national scale, meningitis is an uncommon disease, striking only one person out of 100,000, though Turco said there is a "slight increase" in incidence among college-age students.
Despite the relative rarity of the illness, Dartmouth has lost two of its own to meningitis over the past three years.
In 1999, Jenica Rosekrans '00 died of the disease while another student was diagnosed with it, prompting the New Hampshire State Health Department to offer free vaccinations to all eligible students.
Less than two years later, in February of 2001, bacterial meningitis claimed the life of professor of environmental studies Donella Meadows.
Turco emphasized that the disease is a "rare, uncommon event that does happen periodically," and that the College typically sees less than one case per year.
Still, he said, "If you notice a high fever, headaches and a lot of aches and pains it is prudent to get evaluated."
