According to Nassau County Department of Health, an 18-year-old Westbury resident who attended SUNY Oswego died of suspect meningococcal disease (meningitis) March 14. Craig Schiesser, a graduate of Carle Place High School, was found unconscious in his dormitory room the morning of March 14 and later pronounced dead. Oswego County health officials said he died from bacterial meningitis.

Schiesser's death was the third case of a meningococcal disease reported in a Nassau County resident in 2008 but the death toll rose to four when Nassau County Health officials confirmed that a 58-year-old Levittown man died from meningococcal meningitis on March 15. After several days of feeling ill, the individual left his job at Kozy Shack Foods in Hicksville to rest and was found unconscious at home and transported by ambulance to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow where he died Saturday.

According to Cynthia Brown, a Nassau County Department of Health spokesperson, all members of the individuals' family have been notified. "Those are the people who would potentially have been at risk and they have received prophylactics or are in the process of getting the preventive treatment," Brown said.

Only individuals who have shared food, drink, eating utensils, a beverage container or exchanged oral secretions or who had any similar exposure with the deceased individuals between March 5 and March 15 should contact their health care provider immediately to receive the preventative treatment. Meningitis can't be spread by food or casual contact such as being in the same office or similar setting.

Nassau County health officials report that meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection of the bloodstream or meninges (a thin lining covering the brain and spinal cord) caused by the meningococcus germ. The disease is spread by direct, close contact with nose or throat discharges of an infected person. Symptoms can include high fever, headache, vomiting, stiff neck and rash and appear most often within five days of exposure, but can appear anytime within two and 10 days. Individuals who think they have symptoms should contact their health provider immediately. If untreated, the disease can cause serious neurological damage or even death.

Additional information on meningococcal disease can be found on the New York State Department of Health website at www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/.