It has been confirmed that a female student who attends C.E. Byrd High School has Meningococcal meningitis. The principal believes, the student had been feeling bad for a few weeks and was finally diagnosed. The school was informed on Friday by the local health department and by the end of the day the staff had written a letter to parents, passed out information, and e-mailed information all of this after the principal made a special announcement on the intercom. "Most of the phone calls we have gotten today is, my student didn't bring the letter home can you send me one?” Jerry Badgley, Principal C.E. Byrd High School. It was later revealed the student's parents, and doctor had already told close friends, classmates and family. "The symptoms of meningitis are headache, fever, vomiting. The headache's often the worst headache an individual has ever had,” explained Dr. Steve Bienvenu, LSU Children’s Clinic. Doctors say the only way to contract meningitis is by close contact. "Most parents should not be overly alarmed because it's obviously not extremely contagious, but we do have a few cases a year,” said Dr. Bienvenu. School officials say they have followed the advice of the health department and all precautions have been taken to prevent the spread of the disease. "We are just pretty much hoping that the student gets better and everything we hear is good,” admitted Principal Badgley.
