UW-Madison Sends Out Campus E-Mail On Meningitis

Student Died Of Bacterial Meningitis On Tuesday

Updated: 7:23 pm CST February 5, 2010

The University of Wisconsin-Madison sent out a special campus e-mail about meningitis late Friday.

The informational e-mail was sent to all students following the sudden death of a 22-year-old UW-Madison senior Tuesday

University Health Services said it decided to e-mail all graduate and undergraduate students because of ongoing student questions following Neha Suri's death.

The journalism and political science student died from bacterial meningitis, a swelling of the membrane that covers the brain or spinal cord.

The sudden death stunned the campus community, which held a memorial for her.

University Health Services on Friday afternoon sent out information on bacterial meningitis and how students can get vaccinated against most strains of it.

But officials said they haven't seen any big vaccine demand.

"We have not in the last few weeks seen any increased demand for the vaccine. We know that a large percentage of our students are vaccinated and we really haven't seen any change in our normal demand for it," said Dr. Sarah Van Orman, director of University Health Services.

Officials won't say whether Suri had gotten the vaccine, but they strongly recommend getting vaccinated, saying it "greatly lowers" a student's risk.

Some of the most common symptoms of the fast-moving infection are a high fever with a bad headache, stiff neck and possible confusion, rashes and vomiting.

Students can make an appointment to get vaccinated at University Health Services by calling 608-265-5600.

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