Bentley student dies of bacterial meningitis

WALTHAM, Mass. --Bentley College says a first-year student has died of bacterial meningitis at a hospital in her home state of New York.

College officials said 18-year-old Erin Ortiz died on Monday morning at Westchester Medical Center. She was visiting her family in New Hampton, New York, when she was taken to the hospital.

Bentley says its health services were notified of Ortiz's illness on Sunday by the Massachusetts Department of Health. The college has been notifying students who had close contact with her and providing precautionary antibiotics to them. Students are being encouraged to seek health care if they have symptoms of the disease, which is transmitted by contact with saliva.

According to the health department, symptoms include fever, severe and constant headache, stiff neck or neck pain, nausea and vomiting, and a rash.