Vanderbilt Student From Rossville, GA Contracts Meningitis

A Vanderbilt student from Rossville, Georgia is in stable condition tonight after contracting meningitis.

Sung In Kim, 21, was rushed from her dorm room overnight with a severe headache and a high fever.

www.myspace.comAccording to the Centers for Disease Control meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain.

Bacterial meningitis, the kind Kim has, is more dangerous than the viral form.. And can result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disabilities.

Common symptoms of meningitis include high fever, headache, and stiff neck. It can take several hours or 1 to 2 days for these symptoms to occur.

All scary facts that have become a reality for the Kim's family and friends.

A Kim family friend Savannah Highsmith says, "It helps it put it into perspective..anybody could get sick like that just at any moment."

Sung Kim, a self-proclaimed soccer lover, remains in stable condition at a local hospital after test confirmed she contracted meningococcal bacterial meningitis.

Kim is a 2004 graduate of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School.

And before going to Vanderbilt Sung Kim worked here at her parents donut shop in Fort Olgelthorpe, Georgia.

Highsmith recalls, "They're really, really hard working"

Savannah Highsmith knows the Kim's well and keeps in contact with Sung's younger sister.

Highsmith says about Sung's sister, "She's just terribly upset because they're just so close...they're sisters but they're like best friends, they do everything together just extremely close and I know she's got to be terribly worried."

On Vanderbilt University's website, a warning - the relatively rare, but life-threatening infection can be contagious for people who had close contact with Kim.

Already 12 students and other people were treated with an antibiotic to reduce the chance of transmission.

It may never be known how Kim got the infection in the first place.

But the university credits Kim's friends for getting her to the emergency room quickly and say that may have helped lessen the effects of the infection.