Case of Viral Meningitis Reported in South Jersey School

An automated call from the school system Sunday night brought the latest bit of challenging news for the Margate Schools community.

Little more than a week after a confirmed finding of a bed bug in Margate's Ross School, a member of the Margate's school system has been diagnosed with viral meningitis.

Meningitis occurs when the membranes that cover and protect your brain and spinal cord become infected and inflamed. The inflammation can be caused by a bacterial infection or a viral infection, producing bacterial meningitis or viral meningitis. Meningitis has also been known to be caused by a parasite or certain fungi.

Meningitis can occur in people from a wide range of age groups. The popularity of certain strains of meningitis will vary depending on the age group. Babies and children under age five have been known to contract the virus.

The recorded phone message to parents did not specify who had contracted the disease, weather the person was a student or faculty member or which of the city's two schools he was associated with.

Parents were encouraged to take immediate action if they noticed any of the symptoms of viral meningitis, which include stiffness of the neck, severe headache, and light sensitivity.

Other possible symptoms include vomiting, drowsiness, fever and/or chills and irritability.

Enteroviruses, the most common cause of viral meningitis, are most often spread from person to person through fecal contamination (which can occur when changing a diaper or using the toilet and not properly washing hands afterwards).

Enteroviruses can also be spread through respiratory secretions (saliva, sputum, or nasal mucus) of an infected person.

Contact with an infected person may increase your chance of becoming infected with the virus that made them sick; however, you are not likely to develop meningitis as a complication of the illness.