A Texas A&M University student has been hospitalized with bacterial meningitis, prompting campus administrators to warn hundreds of her classmates and teachers that they could be at risk.

University officials learned late Tuesday that the infection had been diagnosed in a student described only as an upperclassman who lived off campus. Her name and health status were not released.

Dean Bresciani, vice president for student affairs at Texas A&M, said university officials spent Wednesday morning notifying "several hundred" students and faculty members who had been in contact with the student.

"We tend to err toward the conservative in that we over-notify versus under-notify," Bresciani said, explaining that the notification also had an educational component. "While people are paying attention, we want to make them aware of how serious this is and how it is also preventable."

University officials were continuing to investigate late Wednesday, Bresciani said, noting that he didn't yet know where or how the student contracted the infection or how long she might have been sick.

No other cases have been reported.

Meningitis is a potentially deadly infection of the fluid that surrounds the spinal cord and brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacterial form is contagious and can cause brain damage, hearing loss and learning disabilities.

The infection can be spread directly through kissing or sharing a drink or cigarette with an infected person or through indirect contact such as coughing and sneezing, according to information provided by the university. Symptoms include high fever, a headache and a stiff neck.

"The initial symptoms are very flu-like. That tends to be the reason that students are slow in reporting the symptoms. They think it's common," Bresciani said, urging students to pay close attention to their symptoms. "If they are not feeling well, this is the time to be particularly efficient in getting in to see their health care provider."

Bresciani said a local hospital reported the diagnosis to the university. Administrators were dispatched to the hospital late Tuesday to investigate and to provide assistance to the student's family and friends, he said.

On Wednesday morning, the university began sending e-mails to students and faculty members, first contacting those who had had contact with the Aggie. Those who might have had indirect contact with her were alerted during a second round of notifications. The university then sent an e-mail to the entire campus community.

Concerned students already had begun to e-mail and call with questions by Wednesday afternoon, the vice president said, and a "modest" number had gone to Student Health Services, which is providing consultations and free medication to those deemed at risk.

Those numbers likely will go up over the next 48 hours, Bresciani said.

Anyplace a large number of people are in close proximity -- such as a college campus or a football game -- tends to provide an ideal environment for the spread of infections such as bacterial meningitis, Bresciani said. Nationally, as many as 150 college students are stricken each year and as many as 15 die, he said.

Luckily, Bresciani said, Texas A&M falls below the average. He and others pointed to the education on the dangers of bacterial meningitis offered during new-student conferences and Fish Camps. Though the majority of students do not get the vaccine, the numbers are increasing each year, he said.

"No one looks forward to going and getting a shot," Bresciani said, noting that many students considered it an additional expense they could do without. "I think students look at that and say, 'Oh, what are the odds?'"

The last reported cases of bacterial meningitis at Texas A&M were more than six months ago. Two students -- a freshman and junior who lived in Walton Hall and worked together on the off-campus Student Bonfire -- were hospitalized last fall after becoming infected.

About 100 people called the university hot line and about 400 more received vaccinations or antibiotics from the campus health clinic after administrators announced the news then.

• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.

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