SHS: No new cases of meningococcal infection

The first student diagnosed with meningococcal infection last Thursday was discharged from the hospital today, and the other two students are both doing well, according to Student Health Services officials.

The second student has been moved from the Intensive Care Unit to another room in the hospital, and the third is expected to leave the ICU as soon as a bed in another ward becomes available, SHS director Evelyn Wiener said.

She also confirmed today that two of the three Penn students - and likely the third as well - were infected with strain B, the only one of the five strains of meningococcal infection for which no known vaccine has been developed.

The vaccine protects against the four other strains, known as A, C, Y and W-153.

However, SHS is confident the antibiotic it has been using will be effective in fighting this strain, she added.

SHS is also still trying to confirm whether the two students admitted to the hospital over the weekend with flu-like symptoms truly have meningococcal infection, Wiener added, although both are currently in stable condition.

A few other students have been hospitalized for flu-like symptoms and other ailments usually seen at this time of year, like pneumonia, Wiener said, but they are unrelated to the original meningococcal cases.

She added that with some students, SHS is being cautious by bringing them in for testing and observation, but that there have been no more suspected cases of the infection.

"If we were to see any other suspected case, we would indeed make that announcement," she said.

Most Penn students became aware of the situation Thursday afternoon, when SHS sent a University-wide e-mail announcing that two students had been hospitalized with the infection.

SHS subsequently began to dispense preventative antibiotics to more than 3,000 students over the weekend.

However, "from an epidemiological standpoint," Wiener said, the outbreak is not officially over.

She confirmed that all students had common interaction through the Greek system, although she declined to name which particular fraternities or sororities had been affected.

"Students who are social in the Greek scene are social throughout many fraternities and sororities," she said. "It would be shortsighted to pin this on a particular house."

CBS3 is reporting that the two students originally infected both live in the Pi Kappa Alpha house, located at 3916 Spruce St., but University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman has repeatedly said she is unable to confirm whether the two students lived in the fraternity house.

An e-mail from Brown University Health Services to the school's student body also said the cases at Penn may have been linked to the fencing team.

Wiener said the precise cost of the mass dispensation of prophylactic medication will probably never be known, but that both the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia had contributed parts of their budget to the operation.

Wiener confirmed that SHS contacted a number of Drexel University students and gave them the preventative antibiotic before the weekend, due to their social and romantic connections with the identified members of the Greek community at Penn.

More Drexel students were also treated at the clinics over the weekend, she said.

There are no plans for further clinics, and any other requests for prophylactic treatment will be channelled into SHS's regular appointments system, Wiener said.

Related StoriesStudents react to canceled events, seek preventative prophylactic treatment - NewsThree cases of meningitis-like infection cause campus scare | Interactive feature - NewsMeningococcal infection hospitalizes two students - News

Comments (19)

It's God way of punishing the Greeks for their wanton lifestyle.

[QUOTE id="09ab3ec0-7dc1-4783-b855-b1a887419f44"]It's God way of punishing the Greeks for their wanton lifestyle.[/QUOTE] Oh go soak your head.

[QUOTE id="09ab3ec0-7dc1-4783-b855-b1a887419f44"]It's God way of punishing the Greeks for their wanton lifestyle.[/QUOTE] What century do you live in? Grow up and read a book other than your 2000 year old fairy tale.

[QUOTE id="09ab3ec0-7dc1-4783-b855-b1a887419f44"]It's God way of punishing the Greeks for their wanton lifestyle.[/QUOTE] You may not believe in God, but the Devil believes in you. I'll be praying that for you, that God may remove the stony from your heart and call you to believe in Him, to worship Him and to praise Him.

That reply was meant for Grow up, not Repent. It somehow came up as a reply to the wrong person.

[QUOTE id="257a6b84-1f1a-4f86-83b4-508633607134"]That reply was meant for Grow up, not Repent. It somehow came up as a reply to the wrong person.[/QUOTE] That was God's way of chastising you for your intolerance. The Lord works in mysterious ways.......

Hmmm... 4th case? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29226512/

First of all, I have to say I agree with Repent: God is warning you, and using your own sins against you. If you hadn't been getting drunk and reusing cups, drinking from bongs, and whatever else was going on at that party, this wouldn't have been such a problem. Secondly, to Robert Peel and Grow Up: yes, there are religious Christians on campus. No, we're not threatening your religious well-being. Get over it and stop trying to denegrate our religion. And finally, this goes out to both Peel and Grow Up: do you really think it's such a good idea to challenge the Almighty? Really? Lucifer already tried this one, and look where he ended up (and he was an archangel). You are only human.

[QUOTE id="bb210e7b-3e39-4a62-b455-35d7f123a935"]First of all, I have to say I agree with Repent: God is warning you, and using your own sins against you. If you hadn't been getting drunk and reusing cups, drinking from bongs, and whatever else was going on at that party, this wouldn't have been such a problem. Secondly, to Robert Peel and Grow Up: yes, there are religious Christians on campus. No, we're not threatening your religious well-being. Get over it and stop trying to denegrate our religion. And finally, this goes out to both Peel and Grow Up: do you really think it's such a good idea to challenge the Almighty? Really? Lucifer already tried this one, and look where he ended up (and he was an archangel). You are only human.[/QUOTE] Of course you're not threatening anyone's religious beliefs. You're simply being meek and humble, so that you can inherit the Earth, and perhaps hang a few disbelievers along the way. God isn't warning anyone. He's too absorbed with his own perfection to pay much attention to the adverse consequences of bong water. He's lost interest.

[QUOTE id="d1b26574-8fe6-4b1e-92e0-5f2aadec9fa9"]Hmmm... 4th case? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29226512/[/QUOTE] In an e-mail to DP editors this morning, University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman said the MSNBC article is inaccurate, and there are still three meningococcal infection cases, plus two other students hospitalized for flu-like symptoms. Look to Wednesday's DP for more on the meningococcal cases.

[QUOTE id="bb210e7b-3e39-4a62-b455-35d7f123a935"]First of all, I have to say I agree with Repent: God is warning you, and using your own sins against you. If you hadn't been getting drunk and reusing cups, drinking from bongs, and whatever else was going on at that party, this wouldn't have been such a problem. Secondly, to Robert Peel and Grow Up: yes, there are religious Christians on campus. No, we're not threatening your religious well-being. Get over it and stop trying to denegrate our religion. And finally, this goes out to both Peel and Grow Up: do you really think it's such a good idea to challenge the Almighty? Really? Lucifer already tried this one, and look where he ended up (and he was an archangel). You are only human.[/QUOTE] This is one of those joke posts, isn't it? Is there really a Penn student so fucking stupid AND superstitious? Why bother getting a degree? Why no pray to God for a diploma? So, I was at Smokes the other night - got drunk and had hot sex after - I didn't get sick - so God must have been helping me get laid.

Christianity is a peaceful religion. We don�?t hurt people. We don�?t threaten people. We don�?t even censor your precious, free-thinking texts. Get over your paranoia. As for the two posts courtesy of Sean and Nietzsche: they reveal an utter ignorance of everything Christianity means and is. To those two posters in particular: These posts are uneducated, ignorant and blatantly wrong. That's all there is to say about them. Furthermore, persons of all religious beliefs are neither stupid nor superstitious. We logically base our beliefs on divinely inspired texts and thousands of years of scholarly study on those texts. From where I stand, you look like the uneducated ignoramus of questionable intelligence.

Christianity is based on the premise that an all-powerful deity - did not have the power to teach his people in any way other than creating a life and having that life brutally destroyed through sacrifice. I will overlook the other forays into stupidity: that this "son of God" was born to a woman who was never fucked - and that he now lives in cookies and wine - but on the basic premise that an all-powerful God would have no way to teach than through violence. Christianity - and most other religions - are based on ignorance and fear and preys upon the foolish - Penn is a secular university fortunately, and ought to stay that way.

I'm sorry Sean, but you're wrong. Christianity is based on a studied knowledge of God's word as recorded in the Holy Bible. There is no fear, but rather love. Love for God, love for others, love for even the downtrodden. It does not prey upon the foolish, but rather uplifts the rational, the irrational, the weak, and the strong. I'm sorry if you don't understand that. I'm sorry that you have not yet experienced God's love. I'll be praying for you, and I urge everyone else who reads this to do the same.

[QUOTE id="84d2edf3-af10-4e4a-989c-cddd9fde8092"]I'm sorry Sean, but you're wrong. Christianity is based on a studied knowledge of God's word as recorded in the Holy Bible. There is no fear, but rather love. Love for God, love for others, love for even the downtrodden. It does not prey upon the foolish, but rather uplifts the rational, the irrational, the weak, and the strong. I'm sorry if you don't understand that. I'm sorry that you have not yet experienced God's love. I'll be praying for you, and I urge everyone else who reads this to do the same.[/QUOTE] Knock yourself out. Of course, instead of spending that time praying - you could be volunteering in a homeless shelter or doing something useful - but if God's love translates into the creation of a son just so the son can be brutally killed - I wish you all of God's love

If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property. --Exodus 21:20-21 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. --Numbers 31:15,17,18 "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this." --Albert Einstein

I call BS on Evelyn Wiener. Of course Penn knows the precise cost of the (largely unnecessary) prophylaxis program. The medication is a fixed cost. Multiply X pills by X dollars/pill and then add in the salary cost of the medical personnel involved in the clinics. Throw in the cost of ancillary supplies, etc., and voila- you've figured out the cost (and I'm not even a Wharton major...). The total cost should be off-set by the value of our own student volunteers who gave their time to help dispense the medication. More than a few of my classmates who are part of our EMS bike team were there for free. Wiener is equivocating on the cost issue because Penn simply doesn't want to say what it cost, because then they would have to justify the dollar amount.

This sounds like very good news. Now it's time to evaluate, how well did Penn handle this one? I hope some serious, even-handed public health students, faculty, and practitioners will look at the communication to students and parents, and perhaps work on lessening the panic and the risk of infection. One idea is to be more clear about what prudent/recommended prophylactic treatment consists of, so students may choose to take the one dose of Cipro, for example, through their own physicians' prescriptions. Further, provide an explanation to the parent and student body at large about the 2 types of immunizations students may have received. If your student was lucky enough to have gotten the 20-yr shot, terrific. If he or she received the earlier version, good for only 4 or so years, that student might be well-served by getting the new one soon, like over spring break. No reason the bill should be footed by Penn, but certainly the information should be clearly disseminated before break. People who choose not to immunize put everyone at risk.

[QUOTE id="ac5990b4-7250-4ea9-9e1a-36588886f0c4"]Christianity is a peaceful religion. We don�?t hurt people. We don�?t threaten people. We don�?t even censor your precious, free-thinking texts. Get over your paranoia.[/quote] One word for you-Crusades. [quote] We logically base our beliefs on divinely inspired texts and thousands of years of scholarly study on those texts.[/QUOTE] Sigh. You're a Penn student, frequenting the same hallowed halls of academic excellence that I do, and you don't see the inherent contradiction in what you wrote? I'm a believing Catholic. With that in mind, I will remind you that there is nothing logical about faith. To believe in the the divine, to proclaim the mystery of faith as we do, is to put the logical aside. There's nothing wrong with that, but please don't tell me it's logical. You should also be smart enough to realize that the comments you complain about were directed at the poster's intolerance-a very unChristian quality-and not at Christianity itself.

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