Disease kills university student

A University of Canterbury student has died of meningococcal disease.

Canterbury District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Ramon Pink said a young woman died this week.

‘‘Meningococcal disease is a fastmoving illness, which has symptoms similar to a number of other illnesses such as influenza,’’ he said. ‘‘The Community and Public Health team has identified those contacts who require antibiotics, to prevent them developing meningococcal disease.’’

Meningococcal disease was spread by close contact and there was no risk to the public, Pink said.

‘‘I would like to reassure the public that being in the same room as someone with meningococcal disease does not mean you will catch it.’’

University student services and communications executive director Lynn McClelland issued a statement advising the university community of the ‘‘tragic loss of one of our undergraduate engineering students’’ yesterday. ‘‘The circumstances are not suspicious and there is no wider public health risk,’’ she said.

Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that causes two very serious illnesses: meningitis, an infection of the membranes covering the brain, and septicaemia, or blood poisoning.

Notifiable disease reporting shows there was one case of meningococcal disease reported in Christchurch for the week ending February 14. It is unclear if that is the same case.

According to the Ministry of Health website, the disease can affect anyone but it is more common in children under 5, teenagers and young adults. Symptoms of meningitis include a high fever, headache, sleepiness and joint and muscle pain.