College sophomore dies of meningitis

College sophomore Anne Ryan died early this morning of meningitis at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, University officials announced this afternoon.

She was hospitalized Saturday in critical condition.

The University has notified those who were known to be in close contact with Ryan and is providing prophylactic treatment.

Meningococcal meningitis is a serious disease that affects children and young adults.

The disease is spread only through close, prolonged contact with a person who is infected by or who is a carrier of the disease.

Counseling services are available for members of the University community.

An candlelight vigil for Ryan will be held this evening from 10 p.m. - 11 p.m. at 3924 Pine Street.

There will be a University-sponsored gathering tomorrow at 12 p.m. in Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall.

Comments (7)

[QUOTE id="96b0a261-f6b6-4c69-ad52-d0b6fb15c87a"]If Ms. Ryan was hospitalized on Saturday afternoon, why did health services wait until 2:30 Sunday, after she had died, to notify the student body? And also, why did the new Penn Live e-mail provider classify the health services e-mail as junk?[/QUOTE] If you read the email that the University sent out, it looks like they notified the community as soon as they *confirmed* that she had Meningococcal meningitis (which a med student friend of mine says can take a little while to be completely sure about) As for the email going to a junkmail folder, that's a flaw i can't explain, except to say that when it forwarded to my gmail account, it showed up in my inbox right away...

[QUOTE id="fc5323e8-128b-4609-b0ff-3a3fec1e1198"]When my daughter was a freshman Meningococcal meningitis inoculation was required for attending Penn. Such a simple procedure could have prevented this tragedy I wonder how this slipped through the cracks.[/QUOTE] The vaccine doesn't protect against all strains of meningitis and is not 100% effective. In addition, the university does allow exemptions for students who have medical contraindications or strict religious beliefs against the vaccine. This is such a tragic loss of a young life. My thoughts are with Anne's family and friends.

Ms. Ryan supposedly did have the vaccine, but unfortunately, as previously mentioned, the vaccine is not 100% effective. May she rest in peace. My prayers are with her family and friends.

Just fyi if you get your facts straight she did have the vaccination which only vaccinates for certain strands of VIRAL meningitis she had bacterial. So make sure you know things before talking of prevention. [QUOTE id="fc5323e8-128b-4609-b0ff-3a3fec1e1198"]When my daughter was a freshman Meningococcal meningitis inoculation was required for attending Penn. Such a simple procedure could have prevented this tragedy I wonder how this slipped through the cracks.[/QUOTE]

When my daughter was a freshman Meningococcal meningitis inoculation was required for attending Penn. Such a simple procedure could have prevented this tragedy I wonder how this slipped through the cracks.

What can someone say about something like this? It is a very sad thing for someone this young to die. This is the worst thing about life-- that someday you will die. It appears that this is a time when it is healthy for people to be very sad which is called mourning.

If Ms. Ryan was hospitalized on Saturday afternoon, why did health services wait until 2:30 Sunday, after she had died, to notify the student body? And also, why did the new Penn Live e-mail provider classify the health services e-mail as junk?

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