Hoffman Estates High School officials Tuesday continued to monitor students for signs of an illness with symptoms similar to meningitis after a 17-year-old student was hospitalized last week with the potentially fatal disease.
So far there have been no new cases of the disease, known as meningococcema, though some parents notified the school Monday that their children had developed a fever, one of the symptoms, principal Dennis Garber said.
The parents were told to seek medical attention for the fevers, but it did not appear the cases involved meningococcema, Garber said.
In meningococcema, the blood is infected with the same organism that causes meningitis, according to Steven Seweryn, coordinator of the
communicable diseases control program for the Cook County Health Department. Meningitis, unlike meningococcema, is an infection of the spinal column.
”Both are considered fairly serious, evasive infections with this organism,” Seweryn said. When the bacteria infects the blood or spinal fluid, the body becomes overwhelmed and can`t combat the disease effectively, Seweryn said.
The illness can be treated with antibiotics.
The Hoffman Estates High School senior was last in school on April 16, Garber said. He was on a date with his girlfriend April 20, when he complained he wasn`t feeling well. The next day, his mother said the boy had a temperature of 102 or 103, Garber said.
The boy, who also had contracted pneumonia, was ”doing fine” when Garber talked to him, he said. Garber added that the boy was expected to be released from St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin in a day or two.
On Friday, Garber made an announcement to the student body and staff about the student, whose name was not disclosed, as well symptoms of the illness. Students were given letters to take to their parents, and the school also mailed copies of those letters to the homes.
Symptoms of meningococcema include fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck, headache, a rash in some cases, and fatigue, Seweryn said. The disease can be transmitted through close personal contact, such as kissing or sharing drinking or eating utensils.
Those students who were known to have such contact with the 17-year-old were ”notified and then the appropriate medical precautions were taken,”
said Robert Rozycki, assistant superintendent for Township High School District 211.
More information can be obtained from the Cook County Health Department`s Communicable Disease Division at 708-865-6308.
