NJ Teen Dies From Bacterial Meningitis

A New Jersey teen died Saturday from a case of bacterial meningitis.

Chris Dhume, a 17-year-old high school senior from Aberdeen, died at Jersey Shore University Medical Center early Saturday and officials are trying to determine who was in close contact with him.

He began feeling sick on Thursday night and officials are trying to determine who Dhume had contact with in recent daya. Monmouth Country public health coordinator Michael Meddis told The Asbury Park Press that no one knows how Dhume contracted the infection.  After a bowling match,  he displayed flu like symptoms and a high fever.

In the meantime, the Matawan Regional High School Dhume attended was sanitized. The school scrub down was merely a precautionary action, as medical officials confirm the bacteria cannot be spread through casual contact or surface contact.

 "Nobody knows where he got it or from whom," Meddis said in an interview with APP. "In my 36 years as a public health officer I've never seen an outbreak."

A candle light vigil is being planned in his memory and grief counselors are on call at the high school.

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