PICKENS Co., SC (WSPA) – A student at Dacusville Middle School has a confirmed case of viral meningitis, according to John Eby, spokesperson of the Pickens County School District.
According to Eby, the school district was notified about a suspected case on Tuesday after a student was hospitalized with the symptoms.
As a precaution, custodial staff sanitized the child’s classroom and other area’s the child may have been in contact with.
“It’s just extra attention to surfaces that students come in contact with and make sure those are thoroughly scrubbed down,” said Eby.
Around the time of dismissal Tuesday, a letter was sent to parents about the potential case of meningitis.
It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that doctor’s reportedly confirmed a case of viral meningitis, prompting the school district to send out another letter to parents of students at Dacusville Middle School.
“DHEC has cleared us that there’s not a heightened risk to send your kids to school going forward,” said Eby.
Viral meningitis, according to DHEC, is a less severe form compared to bacterial meningitis which has been known to be life-threatening.
Symptoms can include a fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and confusion.
There are no recommendations that any one who may have been in contact with the student at school receive any treatment or be excluded from school, according to Wanda Tharpe, principal of Dacusville Middle School.
Most people get better own their own without treatment.
The virus that causes it can be contagious and spread through respiratory and oral secretions.
Although the Pickens County School District did send out a letter Tuesday afternoon, telling 7 News they weren’t required to by DHEC, some parents voiced concerns over how long it took the district to do so.
“I want to know my kid’s safe,” said Krystal Pitts, the mother of a 13-year-old Dacusville Middle School student. “Once they had confirmed that there was a student hospitalized after a suspected case, I would have liked to have known pretty soon after that.”
Pitts said that if she had known earlier, she may have taken her daughter out of school.
“I know it’s one in every so many kids that come in contact with it, that actually contract it, but you don’t know which one of those kids, and honestly I wouldn’t want it to happen to anybody’s kids,” she said.
According to Eby, there were 29 marked absences from Dacusville Middle School Wednesday out of approximately 340 students, 7 more than Tuesday.
Eby said the number was not out of the norm for absences, although he would understand if parents felt the need to keep their children out of school for the day.
