MaryJo felt a little ill that morning. A sore throat, some nausea. Kwett gave her Tylenol and left clear liquids for her to drink during the day. The students sit silently, stunned. Meningococcal meningitis strikes stealthily.
Victims often develop severe headaches and a stiff neck.
A related disease, meningococcemia, is a blood infection that manifests itself in a rash of purplish blotches. Somewhere in the audience of students, a young man coughs dramatically. On Jan. 7, a Folsom High School senior named Robert Karle died of meningococcal disease, one of the seven cases that Sacramento County has recorded so far this year. Last year, according to the county health department, there were 21 meningococcal cases and two deaths. With its subtle onset and quick, deadly effects, meningococcal meningitis frightens people.