The death of a Loras College student in Dubuque has brought people attention to bacterial meningitis.

Bacterial meningitis, an infection in the fluid lining of the brain and spinal cord, can be spread by direct contact with saliva, such as kissing, sharing eating utensils, drinks or cigarettes. Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, rash and stiff neck.

Audrey Fitzgerald, 19, died last week of the disease although she had been vaccinated against it. She was last seen alive either late Saturday or early Sunday morning. He body was found Sunday night in her Loras dormitory, and, the State Medical Examiner’s Office determined Tuesday that she died of the disease.

Authorities believe Fitzgerald died from neisseria or meningococcal meningitis, a highly contagious disease that can cause local epidemics in college dormitories and boarding schools as well as on military bases.

“The disease is more prevalent in the 15-24 age range because this is the age in which young people are more likely to congregate in close social settings, like schools, colleges, dormitories, etc. They are also more likely to engage in some of the behaviors in which meningitis is spread, like drinking from the same glass,” said Polly Carver-Kimm, a representative for the Iowa Department of Public Health, according to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.

Mary Rose Corrigan, public health specialist with the city of Dubuque, said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference at Loras, that authorities are contacting people believed to have had close contact with Fitzgerald.

Also, Loras College president Jim Collins says all students are required to get vaccinated for the disease, or an oral antibiotic that can prevent the onset of the disease.

Approximately 2000 – 3000 cases of meningococcal disease occur each year in the United States and about 125 deaths results from the disease. Vaccines can protect against most types of meningococcal meningitis, but there are cases when they do not cover all the strains, which must have been Fitzgerald’s case. The type of meningococcal meningitis that struck the girl should be known within a week, Corrigan said.