When Kati Kauffman found workers scraping the walls and sanitizing the community
bathroom in the hallway outside her Snyder Hall dorm Friday, she didn’t think much of it.
Then in class she got the email. A student in her building — who she later discovered was sophomore Carly Glynn, a neighbor just several doors down — died from a suspected bacterial infection early that morning.
When the dietetics sophomore got back to her hall, things were tense, she said. People lingered in the hallway talking about it. News crews rolled to interview students and find out what happened.
Her roommate left for the weekend, at request of her parents. Also scared, Kauffman fled to her friend’s apartment for the night.
The unexpected death of a student in a dorm early Friday morning sparked fear and confusion across campus. After a mass email was sent out from the Office of the Provost Friday explaining the incident, many students — especially the hundreds in Snyder and Phillips halls, where the death occurred — wondered if their lives were in danger.
Health department officials believe the student’s death could have been caused by the potentially lethal meningococcal disease, although test results were not available Sunday.
Even after Kauffman learned meningococcal disease only spreads with close contact to the infected person, she still wonders.
“You always kind of wonder — where did she get it from?” Kauffman said. “The source is still somewhere.”
Friday afternoon, the atmosphere throughout the building was tense, said communication sophomore Mary Kate Tantillo, who lives on the same floor.
“I came back from work, I was in the cafeteria and everyone seemed to be stressed,” Tantillo said. “I was really freaking out thinking maybe I could catch it.”
MSU and Ingham County Health Department officials said as of Sunday, meningitis vaccines still are in supply in the area.
“This is not a case where we would have a vaccine shortage, per se,” said Renée Branch Canady, a health officer for the Ingham County Health Department. “That would not be a concern of mine.”
Still, it is not procedure to widely vaccinate in a case such as what happened Friday, Canady said.
She noted many doctors do not maintain regular supplies of the vaccine, instead referring patients to the health department.
The department conducted interviews with a variety of students to judge whether they were close enough to Glynn to require treatment, Cassella said.
Olin Health Center on campus has meningitis vaccines in stock and will set up appointments with students if they need a vaccination, university spokesman Kent Cassella said.
Meningitis works like many other infections, Canady said, spreading rapidly through the body,
shutting down critical systems — such as the respiratory system — if left untreated.
It only is spread with close contact such as sharing utensils or kissing, she said.
At a student information session with Ingham County health officials at the RCAH Theatre in the Snyder and Phillips halls’ basement Friday afternoon, health officials warned students common flu-like symptoms could actually be the disease, including sore throat, nausea, vomiting and fever.
Afterward, Tantillo said she came out feeling somewhat more safe, knowing the disease only can be
contracted with close contact.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Now, some students there are feeling more at ease.
“Everything is a lot more calm, and I think everyone is okay,” Kauffman said Sunday afternoon.
