An 18 year old male was admitted to the Prince County Hospital in Summerside Friday, April 21, 2000, with a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis due to meningococcus.
He is a student in Ontario and was visiting his family in West Prince for the Easter holiday. He arrived in Prince Edward Island on Wednesday, April 19, 2000, two days before he became ill.
Chief Health Officer Dr. Lamont Sweet advised that all close contacts in West Prince and at Westisle Composite High School, where he visited the day before his illness, were given antibiotics by the public health nurse over the Easter weekend. No other cases of bacterial meningitis have been reported in the area.
The student with meningitis is still in the Prince County Hospital. His condition is presently improving and, at this time, is no longer considered life-threatening.
Symptoms of bacterial meningitis include headache, fever, vomiting, stiff neck, and a rash which looks like bruises.
Dr. Sweet said there is an average of about one case of this type of meningitis diagnosed each year in PEI. However, both of the last two cases in the province over the past two years were visiting from out-of-province at the time of their diagnosis here.