Girl Listed In Critical Condition; All Potentially Affected Passengers Notified

A teenager traveling from Orlando, FL to Wichita, KS aboard an AirTran Airways flight Saturday fell ill and has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

AirTran spokesperson Dave Hirschman said the girl was on board Flight 862 from Orlando to Atlanta then on Flight 687 from Atlanta to Wichita. The girl is reported to be in critical condition Monday at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, according to the Associated Press.

The carrier scrambled to locate passengers who sat near her on the flights.

According to Orlando's WESH-2, the girl became ill then unresponsive during the flight home from Florida.

"The passenger did make the flight to Wichita. She became ill on the flight to Wichita. Emergency medical technicians met the flight at the gate when it landed in Wichita and took her to the hospital," Hirschman said.

"We immediately notified the Centers for Disease Control, and also got in touch with the passengers who were in the seats immediately near the ill passenger. And I'm happy to be able to report that we have notified all of them and none of them are showing symptoms of the disease," Hirschman said.

Symptoms include a high fever, a headache and/or stiff neck, nausea, vomiting and acute light sensitivity. This disease can be treated with antibiotics, can spread rapidly through direct, close contact and can be fatal if left untreated. Treatment should be started as soon as possible.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. People sometimes refer to it as spinal meningitis. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis can be quite severe and may result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability.

The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing).

Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things like the common cold or the flu, and they are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been."

FMI: www.airtran.com, www.cdc.gov