In a notice to the Yale University community, Paul Genecin, M.D., Director of Yale Health announced that a Yale College student was admitted last night to Yale-New Haven Hospital with probable bacterial meningitis (meningococcal disease).

 Gram-negative Neisseria meningitidis diplococcal bacteria/CDC
Gram-negative Neisseria meningitidis diplococcal bacteria/CDC

The student’s condition is being closely monitored and our primary concern is that the student makes a swift recovery.

As a precautionary measure, the university is working with local and state departments of health to identify those who had close, extended contact with the student in order to offer preventative treatment.

Although meningitis is contagious, it is not as easily spread as germs that cause the common cold or the flu. The bacteria are not spread by casual contact or by breathing the air where a person with meningococcal disease has been. Only those who have come into close, extended contact with a person with bacterial meningitis are at risk of infection.

The university has activated its emergency response protocol and set up a telephone hotline staffed by healthcare professionals for those seeking additional information. The hotline number is 866-924-9253.

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