| ■ AirTran Passenger Diagnosed With Meningitis | 2007.07.28 |
| An unidentified girl who became ill on an AirTran Airways flight on Saturday has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, the Associated Press reported Monday. The teen was listed in critical condition at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan., the wire service said. She traveled Saturday from Orlando Fla., to Atlanta on flight 862, then continued to Wichita on flight 687, an AirTran spokesman told the AP. The airline was trying to contact fewer than 20 passengers who sat near her. This illness is contracted by direct close contact with discharges of the infected person's nose and throat, not by breathing the same air, the wire service said. During the flight to Wichita, the teen became sick and was unresponsive, the wire service said. The crew arranged for an ambulance to meet the plane when it landed. AirTran informed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the incident on Sunday. Bacterial meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, kills about 10 percent of its victims, the AP said. Symptoms include stiff neck, high fever, headache, and vomiting. AirTran said the affected planes have been thoroughly cleaned and returned to service, the wire service reported. |