SLU student with bacterial meningitis dies

Associated Press WriterST. LOUIS (AP) -- A Saint Louis University student's death from bacterial meningitis has left other students grieving and, in many cases, worried about their own well-being, university officials said Friday.

Brendan Mooney, 20, died Thursday night at Saint Louis University Hospital, five days after he was admitted. He was a junior business major from Austin, Texas.

"Brendan's loss leaves me deeply and profoundly saddened," said the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, president of the private Jesuit university of 11,175 students in midtown St. Louis. "My heart goes out to Brendan's family, and I know that everyone in our Saint Louis University community is praying for them."

After learning of Mooney's illness Saturday, the university immediately began contacting anyone who might have had close contact with him. Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the fluid and membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The disease is spread through close contact such as kissing or sharing utensils. Flulike symptoms can include high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck.

The disease is fatal in roughly 10 percent of cases.

Since Mooney became ill, more than 800 students and others associated with the university have received preventative antibiotics at the student health clinic.

Donald Kennedy, an infectious diseases specialist at SLU, said it was unlikely that all of those people had had close contact with Mooney. Still, he said, all who asked for treatments were given them, partly to help ease their fears.

"This is a very fearful disease," Kennedy said. "It is absolutely frightening. There is no other word for it."

Kennedy said there was no evidence that anyone else at the university might have the disease.

"I think at the present time we're dealing with a sporadic case," he said.

Experts say bacterial meningitis appears to be more prevalent on college campuses than in the general public, perhaps because students tend to live close together. Of the 3,000 or so cases diagnosed each year, 100 to 125 occur on college campuses, according to the American College Health Association.

Mooney did not live in a dorm but in an off-campus apartment. He was a member of a fraternity.

SLU, like many other colleges, has stepped up efforts to warn incoming freshmen and their parents of the bacterial disease. Deborah Scheff, director of SLU's student health and counseling service, said vaccinations are offered to students who want them.

In 1999, Michigan State University spent $1 million giving more than 16,000 students and faculty members free vaccinations after a student contracted the disease. Mandatory vaccinations are not being considered at SLU, officials said.

About 1.6 million college students have been vaccinated against the disease since 1997 at the recommendation of the ACHA.

A memorial service will take place after students return from their winter break, which began Tuesday. Classes resume Jan. 14. A specific time and place for the service has not been set.

------On the Net:

Saint Louis University, http://www.slu.edu