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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Berkeley College freshman Dijonna Phillips was kind of scared when she found out Friday that one of her White Plains college peers was possibly infected with bacterial meningitis.
I wonder who has it, have I come in contact with that person, how do you even catch it? There was a lot of things I didnt know, said Phillips.
The 19-year-old Kentucky native first found out about the infected person through a school-wide email and also noticed a posting on the Berkeley College Facebook page. Phillips said she has let the news fall by the wayside because she figured if anything were that serious, they would have taken care of it by now or at least let us know something.
The college, which has seven other campuses across New York and New Jersey, released a statement on its website that says school officials are working closely with the Westchester County Department of Health to identify and evaluate close contacts of this case who may need to receive post exposure treatment."
The students determined to have been in close contact with the possibly infected student will be notified and treatment may be suggested, the statement reads.
Phillips said she did not have any complaints with how the school handled the ordeal. However, two other freshmen women who wished to remain anonymous said they did not feel the same way.
They felt that they were poorly informed on the matter and were hoping that the school had put together a program to educate the students on the symptoms of the infection. A fellow student, who was walking with the two girls, said the school took all the right steps and nobody panicked because of that.
Ilene Greenfield, director of media relations at Berkeley, said the school would have an update on its website Monday morning.
According to the Center for Disease Control, "meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges."
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