Housing & Residential Life at Cal State Long Beach has notified residents of a case of viral meningitis, the second meningitis case reported this semester.
The department sent an e-mail to on-campus residents Monday morning, telling them that “one of our residents from Los Cerritos Hall has viral meningitis.” This news followed an update on a female student who had contracted bacterial meningitis in March.
According to an information sheet produced by the Student Health Center (SHC), viral meningitis is a serious but rarely fatal disease that has flu-like symptoms lasting seven to 10 days before the patient recovers completely. This makes viral meningitis a lesser cause for concern than bacterial meningitis, which can cause disability or death if left untreated.
Stan Olin, director of Housing & Residential Life, said this case is in not connected to the bacterial meningitis case a few weneks ago.
The department was notified by a female resident’s parents that she was diagnosed with viral meningitis, Olin said. The department does not know how she contracted it.
“Meningitis is a bit of a mystery disease,” Olin said.
The SHC information sheet said enteroviruses, the most common cause of viral meningitis, are often spread through contact with respiratory secretions like mucus and saliva. The virus can be transmitted when one shakes hands with or touches something handled by an infected person and then touches one’s own nose or mouth.
Olin said he thinks the student will most likely be back at school after spring break, and that the flu-like appearance of viral meningitis means the university might not have known every time someone contracted it. He also said the case of bacterial meningitis earlier this semester is the only case he remembers occurring in the dorms during his time at CSULB.
According to Olin, the female student who contracted bacterial meningitis in March has recovered and is back at CSULB.
