A Sacramento State student was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis on Friday, according to an automated e-mail distributed by the university to all SacLink accounts.

According to the e-mail, the student was hospitalized early Friday morning. The student’s condition was not available as of press time due to privacy matters.

Dr. Glennah Trochet, health officer for Sacramento County, said she is confident that those who may have been in close contact with the patient have been notified and treated.

According to the e-mail notice, “only a few people needed antibiotics as a precaution, and no other cases have been identified.”

Because bacterial meningitis is not spread through the air, but through saliva or droplets, Trochet said one would have had to come in very close contact with the patient to be infected.

“It would most likely be either a girlfriend, boyfriend or roommate,” Trochet said. “If the person shared lipstick or soda, then the people they shared with would be at risk.

“Sitting in the same classroom with this person is not a risk.”The patient did not live in the residence halls.

The Student Health Center is working with the county to help treat anyone else who has been in close contact with the patient. In addition, all registered students are eligible to receive vaccinations that help prevent two of the three most common types of meningitis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, meningitis is a contagious infection of the fluid in a person’s spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. Symptoms can develop over hours or in one to two days and include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck.

Trochet said that Sacramento County investigates meningitis cases about 15 times per year. She said last year the county had only eight cases, but there were 43 cases in 1996.”Every time it’s reported, we act immediately,” Trochet said.

There are an estimated 100 cases on college campuses nationally every year, according to the e-mail.

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Jimmy Spencer can be reached at [email protected]