In a university-wide email sent out on Thursday, Oct. 27, Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell revealed that preliminary findings at Union Memorial Hospital indicated the cause of sophomore Gilbert Duvalsaint's recent death as bacterial meningitis.
Boswell expounded, though, that further testing would be required in order to identify precisely the strain of bacteria involved.
In the email, Dean Boswell stressed that the contraction of the disease was only possible "...through very close contact between the infected person and another person," and that those whose interaction with Duvalsaint fit that description were being contacted and administered the appropriate, precautionary medical treatment.
Boswell continued in the email to account for the sudden deterioration of Duvalsaint's condition, saying that he called early Wednesday morning for medical assistance, and that, though his symptoms were appropriately treated, "...his illness was sufficiently advanced and the strain was sufficiently virulent that the treatment did not save him."
Boswell addressed concerns about the communicability of the disease, adding in the email that, though Duvalsaint had been vaccinated against meningitis, as per Maryland law, "...the vaccine is not 100 percent effective and is effective against a form of the bacteria that causes up to 30 percent of the meningococcal disease in the United States."
She cautioned, however, that university officials were working closely with infectious disease experts at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions as well as the Baltimore City Health Department to ensure the health and safety of the undergraduate population.
