Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.

Paragraph: Officials in Cumberland County say the Department of Health was told Saturday that a person affiliated with the university was hospitalized with a “possible diagnosis of a bacterial meningitis infection.” They did not say if the ill individual is a student. Officials say they are coordinating with the school and the state to provide antibiotics to anyone who had direct close contact with the individual. The university sent a campus-wide notification Saturday. Meningitis is an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The bacteria that cause the infection can spread through kissing, coughing and sharing beverages. Signs and symptoms of infection include high fever, headache, stiff neck and a rash. Claim: Officials investigate possible meningitis case at NC college.
Health officials in North Carolina are investigating a possible case of bacterial meningitis at Methodist University.

Paragraph: "As a matter of course, stories about the increased use of drugs should report the drugs’ prices. A change in guidelines based on the study would increase the number of patients eligible for treatment by several hundred thousand in the US. The annualized cost of drug treatment is $12,000-$24,000 depending on the regimen, leading to potential new expenditures of $24 to $48 billion. While there are significant offsets, the potential for this level of additional costs should have been included in the story The story states that delaying treatment ""nearly doubles the risk of dying over the next several years"" and yields a ""70 percent improvement in survival."" This reporting is vague. The story should have compared absolute risks, not relative risks. See our primer on this issue. The story should have included the time span studied. These numbers should have stated the two death rates directly so readers can understand the magnitude of the benefit–whether the risk of death went from [say] 2 percent to 1 percent or from 30 percent to 15 percent. The story places the recommended treatment of earlier drug intervention in the context of the treatments’ known side effects, which can be very serious. The story should have described the severity of those side effects. We give this a satisfactory score, but barely. The report is based on a study presented at a major medical meeting. The story should have mentioned the fact that it has not been published or peer-reviewed. It should also have pointed out that it was a retrospective cohort study, which is considered to be less conclusive than prospective, double-blind studies. It should also have pointed out, as the NIH press release does, that a clinical trial is needed to validate the results in a way that would call for changing the current guidelines. These failures to provide caveats and context earn the story an ""unsatisfactory"" rating under this criterion. The story does not exaggerate the gravity or prevalance of AIDS. The story quotes Anthony Fauci, one of the best-known and -respected experts in the field of HIV/AIDS. The story also quotes the study’s lead investigator, and the author of AIDS treatment guidelines. That source’s link to companies that make AIDS drugs is properly noted. The story also quotes an independent clinician familiar with the guidelines and the current research. The story plainly compares the current guidelines with the regimen tested. The story explains that the drug combinations used by AIDS patients have been widely used since the mid-1990s. No claims are made for the novelty of the drug treatment. The recommendation to treat earlier is presented not as novel, but as a plan under consideration and study for quite some time. The story does not draw excessively on the NIH press release." Claim: AIDS treatment should be started sooner, study says
"This is a Columbus Dispatch version of a story reported by the Associated Press. Since the Columbus paper changed the original article substantially, we send our comments to the Columbus paper. Taking the big view, this story about the benefits of starting the standard multi-drug AIDS treatment sooner than current guidelines suggest accomplishes its mission. It fairly describes important new research that verifies earlier work suggesting the same thing. It says, correctly, that the continuing research could drive changes in treatment. The story is well-sourced and provides a lucid description of the disease process and detailed definition of ""early"" treatment. Having said that, the report falls short of two key best practices:  It fails to quantify the benefits of early treatment in a meaningful way. It uses ""relative risk"" [a percent reduction in mortality] instead of ""absolute risk"" [which would allow readers to understand the gravity of the risk and the size of the benefit. It fails to describe the limitations of the study with caveats and context. If the story had mentioned those limitations, its predictions of imminent clinical use and eventual changes to the guidelines would have been properly tempered. As presented, the story fails to check the sources’ consistent enthusiasm with journalistic disinterest. Given the credibility of the study, the opinions of multiple high-quality sources and the previous research record, the predictions seem justifiable. But the history of AIDS science, treatment and politics recommends a bit more reporting distance and care."

Paragraph: House Speaker Jose Oliva was unsparing in his criticism of what he called the “healthcare industrial complex,” including drug companies, hospitals and medical device companies that he said were “the great robber-barons of our time.” Oliva sought to build on some of health care initiatives of last year’s legislative session, including passage of a first-in-the-nation drug importation bill. “We did not choose healthcare as our priority,” he said. “No, it chose us. It chose us through the sheer audacity of the defenders of the status quo.” With a presidential election looming this fall, fierce partisan divides could influence the work of lawmakers. But an air of collegiality prevailed Tuesday, as bouquets festooned the chambers and the Capitol halls and rotundas pulsed with activity. Opening day was also important for lobbyists and the activists who seek to influence lawmakers and the legislation that will be crafted over the 60 days the Legislature has to complete its business before adjourning. While DeSantis enjoys strong relationships with lawmakers — particularly his fellow Republicans who run both chambers of the statehouse — he may not necessarily get everything he wants during his second year as the state’s chief executive. His $91.4 billion budget calls for major spending on the environment and education — including a nearly $1 billion outlay for teacher raises and bonuses. Some fiscally conservative lawmakers said they would give the spending intense scrutiny. On the eve of the Legislature’s opening day, thousands of educators and their allies descended on the Capitol to draw attention to the governor’s plan, calling it flawed because of potential pay inequities and because veteran educators and non-teaching school employees would be left out. Some key Republicans have also cast doubt on the governor’s plan to require employers to use a federally operated electronic database known as E-Verify to check the immigration status of workers. E-Verify has been opposed by agriculture, construction, tourism interests and other industries that rely on immigrant labor. Hundreds of bills await, encompassing education spending, health care, the environment and public safety — as well as approving the billions of dollars required to keep the country’s third-most populous state operating day to day. Legislative Democrats are pushing for stronger gun control measures, but face long odds to win over their Republican colleagues. Addressing a joint session of the state House and Senate during his State of the State address, DeSantis urged cooperation — particularly when it comes to approving his agenda on the environment and education. “This is Florida’s season of opportunity,” DeSantis told lawmakers. “We have the chance to build on a strong foundation, the chance to face the challenges before us and the chance to leave a legacy of success that will benefit our people now and in the future.” Rep. Chris Sprowls, a Republican who’s next in line to be House speaker, commended DeSantis for the sweep of his speech -- covering priorities, he said, that were crucial to Florida’s future. “The members of the House want to help the governor because we believe in the same thing,” Sprowls said. However, Sprowls declined to discuss the merits of specific legislation proposed by the governor, saying that task will be undertaken in the days and weeks to come. And while the governor’s agenda appeared “bright,” he said, “nothing is ever a slam dunk.” In his opening remarks, Senate President Bill Galvano, a Republican, reminded lawmakers of their weighty responsibility. “As we go into this session let us continue to show our constituents that we can exchange and debate ideas while maintaining civility and decorum,” he told the chamber. “That we can problem solve together. That we can put aside personalities and politics for good policy. And, that we are not a microcosm of Washington, D.C., but instead will continue to be an example for Washington, D.C.” Claim: Florida Legislature sets sights on education, health care.

Florida lawmakers signaled that they would likely tackle education spending and health care costs but might seek to avoid a battle over forcing employers to verify the immigration status of workers, as the 2020 legislative session began Tuesday.