Meningitis highlights frailty of life at USF
The news in the Tampa Bay is all abuzz with the details surrounding the death of a University of South Tampa sophomore who died yesterday from a bacterial meningitis infection. Understandably, students on campus are lining up for meningitis immunizations shops and those who had direct contact with the student were put on rounds of Cipro immediately.
Her funeral is today. She was just 19.
Although this is just more crisis for USF, the administrators must be relieved to have a break from further deflecting the bizarre story of the two USF students (Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed) who are in all kinds of hot water for driving from Tampa to the area just around that military base in South Carolina with their car chock full of laptops and all the makings of pipe bombs. USF has a disturbing history of attracting both terrorists and terrorists sympathizers. Just do a web search on Sami Al Aryan if you want more information on the University’s unwilling position as a terrorist hotbed.
The latest on Megahed and Mohamed is that their defenders and families are insisting they are just nice boys who were out for a summer joyride. Riiight.
But, back to the meningitis scare at USF. The infection is often mistaken for the flu: high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, rash, nausea and vomiting. It is a contagious disease and can be spread by sharing a drinking cup or eating utensils and by kissing, coughing and sneezing.
Apparently, about 4% of the population actually carries the bacteria in their noses. We probably come in contact with it more than we even know. People with weakened immune systems are the ones who actually become ill after coming in contact. That’s not just people like cancer patients and children, but also those who have not had enough sleep, are stressed out, or have been drinking a lot of alcohol.
Rachel Futterman was a happy, active 19-year-old waiting tables Thursday afternoon. By Friday she was feeling ill, and by 7 a.m. Saturday morning her body had gone into seizures. She was taken to the hospital, placed on life support and died shortly thereafter.
As USF stops today to remember Rachel Futterman and honor her at funeral services, the rest of us can take a minute to appreciate the absolute frailty of life.
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