Third case of meningitis sends crowd to Penn clinic

When the University of Pennsylvania's special health clinic opened yesterday morning, a crowd of students was lined up in the cold, waiting.

University officials alerted students Friday that a third undergraduate had been hospitalized with meningitis.

Two of the students were in stable condition, and the third was in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman said.

"We believe the common point is that the students had been at a Greek event or in close contact with someone who was," she said, adding that all university-sponsored and Greek events scheduled this weekend had been canceled as a precaution.

Throughout yesterday, waves of students visited the school's special health services clinic on 35th Street near Market for information, evaluations, and preventive antibiotics.

"People are definitely leery," said freshman Sara Schults, who said she had come to the clinic because she attended fraternity parties last weekend.

Schults also said her friends had canceled plans for a big Valentine's Day dinner. "People are being more cautious," she said.

Meningitis, caused by a bacterial or viral infection, is an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord that can leave a person gravely ill. Common early symptoms include fever, severe headache, sensitivity to bright light, a stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rash, and lethargy.