After a visitor was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis following a stay on campus, University Health Services has taken steps to guarantee the ailment does not spread to those at the University.
Though the visitor — a Boston resident and the younger sister of a University student and Ivy Club member — did not display symptoms while on campus from Feb. 19-22, the University has notified those who may have been in contact with her.
Health Services offered the antibiotic Cipro to students at risk of contracting the disease.
University Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman said most of the students contacted have accepted the treatment.
Silverman also said the majority of the students identified were members of the Ivy Club.
The visitor had dinner at the club Feb. 20 and began showing symptoms of meningitis a few days later, said former Ivy Club treasurer Hugh Strange '04.
"She was not symptomatic while eating at Ivy," Strange said. "No one in the club has shown symptoms. There is virtually no chance that anyone got it."
Silverman agreed that the threat of University students contracting the disease is minimal. He said meningitis is not "terribly contagious" and that spread usually only occurs from "intimate contact."
Silverman also said the typical incubation period for the disease ranges from two to 10 days, and because the visitor left campus more than 10 days ago, the chance of a case developing at this point is minimal.
About 85 percent of Princeton undergraduates are already immunized for meningitis, Silverman said.
However, the University has extended treatment to anyone who exhibits symptoms or is worried about exposure.
Silverman said the immunization "should be [effective] in theory. But, again, we are being cautious."
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid that surrounds the spinal chord and brain. Bacterial meningitis is more severe than viral meningitis. With proper and timely antibiotic treatment, less than 15 percent of cases prove fatal, according to the Center for Disease Control website.
Meningitis is contagious through respiratory and throat secretions.
Symptoms of meningitis, as reported on the CDC website, include high fever, stiff neck and headache, and often vomiting, sensitivity to light, confusion and sleepiness.
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