2008 Woodie Awards
Student says officials ignored her meningitis
Jad Sleiman and Kellie Woodhouse
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: News
A sophomore who was diagnosed with meningitis earlier this month is accusing University Health Center officials of failing to take precautions to prevent the spread of her illness and refusing to assist her when she fell sick.
University health officials, however, contend that the student, her family and her friends were confused by the urgent, but routine, precautions taken by professionals at the medical facilities she was admitted to and that the strain of meningitis she had was not contagious.
Sacared Bodison, the director of the health center, was confident that there was no danger of an outbreak after conferring with the doctors who diagnosed Mary Nachimson, a letters and sciences major.
"Everybody said there is nothing to worry about," Bodison said, "but her mother blasted us with e-mails."
"They locked down the whole doggone emergency room," Linda Nachimson, Mary's mother, said. "They had everybody wearing masks and stuff; obviously it was contagious."
Nachimson told a local television station and Diamondback reporters yesterday that she went more than a week without seeking treatment after displaying symptoms of meningitis.
When she did seek treatment, Nachimson said she was hospitalized after waking and finding she could not move her back to get out of bed. She said doctors then told her she had a contagious form of meningitis and a staph infection - which she contracted after stopping an antibiotic treatment early.
The doctors had a different view. According to Bodison, Linda Nachimson "just badgered the doctors until they told her what she wanted to hear."
Health officials from the county health department, Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham, Md. and the health center concluded that Nachimson's previous staph infection had developed into staphylococcal meningitis, a noncontagious form of meningitis.
The health center tried to explain to Nachimson's friends that there was nothing to worry about. They went as far as to attempt to meet with them one-on-one.
University health officials, however, contend that the student, her family and her friends were confused by the urgent, but routine, precautions taken by professionals at the medical facilities she was admitted to and that the strain of meningitis she had was not contagious.
Sacared Bodison, the director of the health center, was confident that there was no danger of an outbreak after conferring with the doctors who diagnosed Mary Nachimson, a letters and sciences major.
"Everybody said there is nothing to worry about," Bodison said, "but her mother blasted us with e-mails."
"They locked down the whole doggone emergency room," Linda Nachimson, Mary's mother, said. "They had everybody wearing masks and stuff; obviously it was contagious."
Nachimson told a local television station and Diamondback reporters yesterday that she went more than a week without seeking treatment after displaying symptoms of meningitis.
When she did seek treatment, Nachimson said she was hospitalized after waking and finding she could not move her back to get out of bed. She said doctors then told her she had a contagious form of meningitis and a staph infection - which she contracted after stopping an antibiotic treatment early.
The doctors had a different view. According to Bodison, Linda Nachimson "just badgered the doctors until they told her what she wanted to hear."
Health officials from the county health department, Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham, Md. and the health center concluded that Nachimson's previous staph infection had developed into staphylococcal meningitis, a noncontagious form of meningitis.
The health center tried to explain to Nachimson's friends that there was nothing to worry about. They went as far as to attempt to meet with them one-on-one.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
Linda Nachimson
posted 2/28/08 @ 9:12 AM EST
After reading your article regarding my daughter's bout with meningitis, I'd like to clear up the many inaccuracies in your story. First off, you mention that I "blasted" the Health Center "with e-mails. (Continued…)
Mary N
posted 2/28/08 @ 4:12 PM EST
Also note that my quote at the beginning of page two is incomplete: the health center did not contact my roommates for a meeting until six days after I was admitted into the hospital, and this is why they declined the meeting. (Continued…)
Anne Marie
posted 2/28/08 @ 5:00 PM EST
If they knew that it was staphylococcal meningitis, giving students preventive antibiotics is neither the proper protocol nor a good idea. Bacteria become antibiotic-resistant due to overuse. (Continued…)
Jamie Callahan
posted 3/01/08 @ 5:19 AM EST
The Meningitis Foundation of America (MFA), a national organization, would like the public and media to know that information is available regarding the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of meningitis. (Continued…)
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