A Florida A&M University student died from a rare blood infection Monday evening. University and Leon County health officials said the illness affects few people each year, and only those in close contact with the student may be at risk.
Courtney Simms, 22, a broadcast student from Gary, Ind., succumbed to a suspected case of meningococcemia, a rare but serious infection of the blood stream.
By law, any suspected case of either meningitis or meningococcemia caused by this bacteria must be reported to the health department.?
“We did have a case reported to us [Tuesday] that a FAMU student had passed away from suspected meningococcemia, which is a blood infection. (It is ) Not necessarily meningitis, although you can have both,” said Dr. Marjorie Kirsch, medical director of the Leon County Health Department.
?”The diagnosis is not confirmed. It takes a couple of days to identify the bacteria that causes an illness such as that. It was reported as a suspected case.”
Simms was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital with flu like symptoms Monday afternoon. She spent several hours in the emergency room and the intensive care unit before being pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m. Roughly 1 in 100,000 people will become seriously ill from meningococcemia.
“In our town, since we have about 300,000 people, we’re going to expect a few cases each year,” Kirsch said.
Health officials tried to downplay the danger to the university student population.
Tanya Tatum, FAMU director of Student Health Services, said in an e-mail the infection is typically passed through respiratory droplets or oral secretions from kissing, sharing cigarettes, cups, forks, knives and spoons.
“You cannot get meningitis from casual contact, being in the same class or through food,” she said. The germ that causes meningococcemia, myceria meningitities, is a common germ.??
“Young children, pregnant women and persons with compromised immune systems are also at greater risk,” Tatum said.
Simms’ older sister Dedra Simms, 24, said Courtney worked two waitress jobs and was a full-time student.
“She worked about 30-40 hours a week,” said Dedra Simms, who came to Tallahassee with their stepfather.
Dedra said two weeks ago Courtney had a slight cold when she went home to visit family, however, she was fine when she started school.
“When she went back to Florida, she took some medicine and she started getting better and she was fine. So she started going back to work and school,” Dedra said.
Kirsch said Simms’ weakened immune system from a previous cold, coupled with the stress of working full-time and school, could have been a cause for her rapid illness.
“That would be logical. Anything that runs down your immune system could make it more difficult to fight off anything,” Kirsch said. “For whatever reason, the person’s immune system allows it [the germ] to get in the wrong place, and it can cause a very bad disease when it does that.”
Students can protect themselves by getting a meningitis vaccine, Kirsh said. Vaccines are available at the Student Health Services, Tatum said.
The state of Florida requires that new university students provide proof of immunization against meningitis, however, “students will often opt out of obtaining
A Florida A&M University student died from a rare blood infection Monday evening. University and Leon County health officials said the illness affects few people each year, and only those in close contact with the student may be at risk.
Courtney Simms, 22, a broadcast student from Gary, Ind., succumbed to a suspected case of meningococcemia, a rare but serious infection of the blood stream.
By law, any suspected case of either meningitis or meningococcemia caused by this bacteria must be reported to the health department.?
“We did have a case reported to us [Tuesday] that a FAMU student had passed away from suspected meningococcemia, which is a blood infection. (It is ) Not necessarily meningitis, although you can have both,” said Dr. Marjorie Kirsch, medical director of the Leon County Health Department.
?”The diagnosis is not confirmed. It takes a couple of days to identify the bacteria that causes an illness such as that. It was reported as a suspected case.”
Simms was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital with flu like symptoms Monday afternoon. She spent several hours in the emergency room and the intensive care unit before being pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m. Roughly 1 in 100,000 people will become seriously ill from meningococcemia.
“In our town, since we have about 300,000 people, we’re going to expect a few cases each year,” Kirsch said.
Health officials tried to downplay the danger to the university student population.
Tanya Tatum, FAMU director of Student Health Services, said in an e-mail the infection is typically passed through respiratory droplets or oral secretions from kissing, sharing cigarettes, cups, forks, knives and spoons.
“You cannot get meningitis from casual contact, being in the same class or through food,” she said. The germ that causes meningococcemia, myceria meningitities, is a common germ.??
“Young children, pregnant women and persons with compromised immune systems are also at greater risk,” Tatum said.
Simms’ older sister Dedra Simms, 24, said Courtney worked two waitress jobs and was a full-time student.
“She worked about 30-40 hours a week,” said Dedra Simms, who came to Tallahassee with their stepfather.
Dedra said two weeks ago Courtney had a slight cold when she went home to visit family, however, she was fine when she started school.
“When she went back to Florida, she took some medicine and she started getting better and she was fine. So she started going back to work and school,” Dedra said.
Kirsch said Simms’ weakened immune system from a previous cold, coupled with the stress of working full-time and school, could have been a cause for her rapid illness.
“That would be logical. Anything that runs down your immune system could make it more difficult to fight off anything,” Kirsch said. “For whatever reason, the person’s immune system allows it [the germ] to get in the wrong place, and it can cause a very bad disease when it does that.”
Students can protect themselves by getting a meningitis vaccine, Kirsh said. Vaccines are available at the Student Health Services, Tatum said.
The state of Florida requires that new university students provide proof of immunization against meningitis, however, “students will often opt out of obtaining this vaccine,” Tatum said.