NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT)– New meningitis cases are being reported in Middle Tennessee for the third time this week and the fourth time in a month.
WTVF-TV says officials are reporting four to seven cases of viral meningitis Tuesday among students at Oak View Elementary in Williamson County. Cleaning crews are in the process of disinfecting the school.
Monday the Centers for Disease Control reported that they’re investigating 11 cases of meningitis tied to a Saint Thomas facility in Nashville. Two patients involved in that case have since died.
Wednesday afternoon two more cases were added to the St. Thomas incident, for a total of thirteen cases.
Back in September, a student attending Middle Tennessee State University contracted a case of meningitis and died.
The illness can have several causes. Some forms of the illness are more contagious than others, and are some more dangerous than others, but Dr. Stan Clark with the MTSU Health Clinic says they all have similar symptoms.
“The meninges are irritated – which is the lining around the brain and the spinal chor – so whenever they’re irritated you’re going to get the symptoms of stiff neck and headache. That’s the classic that you’ll see with it. If it is an infectious process you tend to get significant fever with it as well and malaise.”
For more information on this potentially deadly illness, check out the website voicesofmeningitis.org.