THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 4, 1995 TAG: 9504040307
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
A 13-year-old Chesapeake student has contracted the same strain of meningococcal disease that killed a Norfolk Academy student last month.
The girl, whose name is not being released, is recovering at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, said Nancy Welch, Chesapeake Health Department director. She was diagnosed on Friday.
Welch stressed that there is no direct connection between this girl and D.A. Taylor, the Norfolk Academy student who died of the disease March 20, nor with another Norfolk Academy student who contracted the disease recently and has recovered.
Health Department employees spent the weekend distributing antibiotics to 300 teachers and students at Crestwood Middle School who had been in contact with the girl. They also contacted her family and neighborhood friends and provided them with the preventive medication, Welch said.
Welch urged parents to take their children to the doctor if they exhibit any signs of the disease, which include high fever, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck and rash. by CNB