A 19-year-old sophomore died of complications associated with bacterial meningitis Sunday afternoon at Sacred Heart Hospital.

Sean Coleman, a resident of Katharine Thomas Hall, was taken to the hospital around noon Sunday after he was ill Saturday night with flu-like symptoms.

Meningitis, which is caused by a bacterium that can produce an infection of a person’s bloodstream, spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain, is contagious but not through general contact, said Richard Kark, medical supervisor for UW-Eau Claire Health Services.

To be exposed, a person must have direct contact with the carrier, such as exposure to saliva or other bodily secretions, he said.

“It’s very, very, very hard to catch,” he said.

Coleman is the second person at UW-Eau Claire to die from bacterial meningitis this academic year. In November 2001, junior Amber Krenz died after showing symptoms of the disease. Krenz was not a dorm resident and lived with her family in Eau Claire.

The deaths are not connected because they were so far apart, Kark said.

Health Services is offering the antibiotic Cipro free to students in Thomas Hall, recommending the precautionary measure especially to those who lived on Coleman’s wing, Kark said.

Of the 140 men and women living in Thomas Hall, 65 students have received the antibiotic as of this morning, said Director of Health Services Laura Chellman.

A prescription for Cipro is available at Health Services for other students who may have had close contact with Coleman, she said.

Coleman’s girlfriend and EMT officials that responded to a call Sunday at Thomas Hall have also been treated with the antibiotic, said David Backstrom, director of public safety. Coleman’s father was at Sacred Heart Sunday, but it is not known how many family members have been treated.

Coleman was from Rib Lake and was active in Hall Council, said Housing Director Chuck Major.

University officials informed Thomas Hall residents of Coleman’s death at a meeting at 9 p.m. Sunday, Major said. They explained the medical realities of meningitis, offered the antibiotic treatment and answered questions, he said, adding that counselors also meet with students who were dealing with Coleman’s death.

Students are very shook up and the ones that knew him well are frustrated with his death, he said.

A certain number of people in a population carry the disease in a lining of their nose and never get sick, Kark said. “Why certain people get sick from this we don’t know.”

A vaccine, which Health Services routinely recommends to incoming freshman, protects against four of the five strains of meningitis and is available for $70.

Students in a dorm are susceptible to meningitis because they live in a small area with many people, Chellman said.

But the disease is rare and even with the direct contact, the chances of contracting meningitis are very low, Kark said.

Only about 10 to 15 percent of meningitis cases are fatal, he said.

According to Health Services, in 1998-99, 83 cases of meningitis were reported among college students nationwide and six of those students died.