One student and one community member from the towns of Regional School Unit 40 has been diagnosed with viral meningitis, according to interim Superintendent Michael Cormier.
The student’s case, which was awaiting confirmation from test results as of the afternoon of Oct. 9, was confirmed by Cormier on Oct. 10. As of Oct. 15, no new cases had come to Cormier’s attention, he said.
A notice posted on the website for Regional School Unit 40 advising the district administration and health service personnel are aware the presence of viral meningitis is an effort to keep the public informed, Cormier said.
“As a parent with children, when meningitis is going around we worry about it,” he said.
In the event a public healthy advisory is needed, the district will follow the directives of the Centers for Disease Control, according to the notice.
According to a fact sheet from the Maine CDC, meningitis is a swelling of tissues covering the brain and spinal cord, and viral meningitis is usually less severe than bacterial meningitis.
Dr. Stephen Sears, the state epidemiologist at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the Maine CDC is not aware of any other current groupings of viral meningitis in the state.
“It’s not a reportable condition so we don’t have accurate numbers, but we are generally aware when there’s a grouping of any disease and there have been several cases in the Midcoast,” Sears said.
Sears said it is important to note viral meningitis is a milder form and most people recover from it. However, unlike in cases of bacterial meningitis, interventions such as medication cannot be used to fight the infection, he said.
The virus can spread through kissing or shaking hands with an affected person or handling something they handled, and then rubbing one’s nose, eyes, or mouth, or through the stool of an affected person, according to the fact sheet.
Common symptoms include high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, and though there is no specific treatment for the virus, most patients recover on their own within seven to 10 days, according to the fact sheet.
For prevention, the Maine CDC recommends washing hands often with soap and water, avoiding sharing items like cups and eating utensils, and disinfecting contaminated surfaces and objects.
Both the school district and the Maine CDC recommends visiting the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention website for more information at http://www.cdc.gov.
