TUNICA, Miss. – State health workers are trying to identify students and teachers in the Tunica County School District who may have had contact with a 7-year-old boy infected with bacterial meningitis. Family members said the child is in intensive care at a Memphis hospital.
Health experts say only people who’ve been in close contact with the student for a long period of time would be threatened, and as a precaution they need to be treated with antibiotics. But they said there is no current health risk at the school, and other students and the community are not in any danger.
While most people with meningitis do get well, it can cause serious complications, such as brain damage and learning disabilities. Meningitis is spread through saliva or mucus. Symptoms of the disease include sudden fever, severe headache and neck stiffness.
