THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240558
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
A popular Norfolk Academy junior and star football player continues to fight for his life after contracting a contagious and sometimes fatal disease at a track meet.
D.A. Taylor, 16, of Virginia Beach, has been diagnosed with meningococcal disease. The bacterial illness can lead to blood poisoning and meningitis, an infection of the fluid around the brain.
He has the same type of disease that recently killed a Northern Virginia student. Both apparently contracted it at a Feb. 11 track meet in Alexandria, according to health officials.
The state Department of Health recommended that several hundred students who attended the meet take antibiotics as a precaution. Norfolk Academy, which sent 28 students, was the only local school involved.
So far, no other cases have been reported. And health officials said it's unlikely that there will be others related to the meet because the incubation period for the disease is short and symptoms would have been spotted by now.
Norfolk Academy officials alerted students to Taylor's condition last Thursday and explained the health risks.
Generally, the disease is spread by direct contact with body secretions. Therefore, those at risk include family members and anyone else who may have shared food, water or a kiss with someone carrying the germ. The disease can develop quickly, and symptoms include fever, headache and vomiting.
So far, concern for Taylor has overshadowed concern over the disease itself among the close-knit student body at Norfolk Academy, said Head Master John Tucker Jr. ``The outpouring of affection of our students for D.A. is just overwhelming,'' Tucker said.
Over the weekend, as many as 30 students at a time visited the hospital to support Taylor and his family. Taylor and his brother, Damien, a senior, are both standout athletes at the school. They live in the Green Run section of Virginia Beach.
D.A. Taylor was listed in critical condition Thursday at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. Tucker praised doctors and nurses for helping Taylor. ``They're the heroes,'' he said. ``If it were not for King's Daughters hospital, he would not be here.'' ILLUSTRATION: D.A. Taylor, 16, has men-ingococcal disease. He was listed in
critical condition Thursday.
by CNB