A first-grade student at a Brooklyn elementary school has contracted meningitis – though health officials said the strain of the infection is noncontagious.
But parents at PS 52 in Sheepshead Bay are alarmed that a 6-year-old boy was infected and has been hospitalized since Nov. 23.
Parents received a letter from school and health officials on Dec. 2.
“It makes you wonder what’s going on,” said parent Andrea Weninda. “Why all of a sudden meningitis?”
A meeting will be held at the school on Tuesday to clear the air.
“We’re working with the Health Department in monitoring the situation,” said city Department of Education spokesman Kevin Ortiz. “There’s no need for children to take antibiotics.”
Ortiz confirmed the child with the virus remains under observation at Maimonides Hospital.
In worst cases, meningitis infects the fluid of a person’s spinal chord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. The most severe strain may result in brain damage, hearing loss or a learning disability.