Teacher At South Amboy Elementary Comes Down With Viral Meningitis

SOUTH AMBOY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A South Amboy, New Jersey elementary school teacher has been diagnosed with viral meningitis, school officials said Tuesday night.

Schools Supt. Robert Sheedy said in a notice to parents that a teacher at South Amboy Elementary School had been diagnosed with viral meningitis, and will be absent this week.

Sheedy said he will personally see the teacher's doctor before she returns.

The Middlesex County Health Department was informed, and the teacher's classroom and common area were sanitized before students and other staff arrived at the school Tuesday, Sheedy wrote.

Sheedy said the odds that any children or parents would catch meningitis are very low. He also noted that people with viral meningitis, as opposed to bacterial meningitis, usually get better with no problem with rest and fever-reducing medicine.

About 90 percent of viral meningitis cases are from common intestinal viruses called enteroviruses, but contact with one of the viruses does not necessarily mean meningitis will follow, Sheedy wrote.

Those in the area seeking more information were asked to contact their family doctors, or the county health department at (732) 745-3100.