Academy on meningitis watch

A Naval Academy plebe is hospitalized with what could be bacterial meningitis.

Academy officials said the student - a 20-year-old male - was taken by ambulance to Baltimore Washington Medical Center after he began displaying symptoms consistent with meningitis.

Officials would not elaborate on the symptoms, but said 24 midshipmen who live in close proximity to the potentially infected mid are receiving antibiotics as they await the results of his tests.

"He's undergoing tests and we haven't received the test back to see if that is it," said Jenny Erickson, a spokesman for the Naval Academy. "It's contagious (and the antibiotics) are just a precaution."

Meningitis is an infection of the spinal cord fluid that surrounds the brain. It can be either a viral or bacterial infection. Viral meningitis is less severe and can be resolved without specific treatment, but bacterial meningitis can cause brain damage or a learning disability and can even be fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some common symptoms of the infection are high fever, headache and stiff neck.

There are nearly 3,000 cases of the disease diagnosed every year and about 12 percent are fatal. Some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious and can be spread with the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions from actions such as coughing or kissing.

Last year, there were 34 cases of meningitis reported to the Anne Arundel County Department of Health.

In 2000, the General Assembly passed a bill requiring all students living in college dorms to get a meningitis vaccine or sign a waiver saying that they understand the risks and choose not to get the shot.

This isn't the Naval Academy's first time dealing with meningitis. In 2005, a midshipman was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center to be treated for bacterial meningitis. The plebe had complained of a high fever, severe headache and nausea before being taken to the hospital. At that time, preventive antibiotics were distributed to the midshipman's entire company.

In Georgia, the National Meningitis Association aims to educate families about bacterial meningitis and how it can be prevented. It offers its Moms On Meningitis program, which is a coalition of mothers across the country whose children have been impacted by the disease.

In Alexandria, Va., member Jane Hession talks to other families about the disease 11 years after it killed her 17-year-old son, Brendan.

Ms. Hession said she was pleased more people know about the disease now than they did in the 1990s. But she still finds parents who are reluctant to have their children vaccinated.

"Until recently, it was perceived that this was not a disease anyone needed to worry about when they're not in the military," Ms. Hession said. "This is a preventable disease. My son did not have to die, but I was unaware that he could have gotten vaccinated."