Student develops bacterial infection after experiment

BOSTON -- A local graduate student and researcher has developed a bacterial infection, days after conducting experiments with dangerous meningitis germs.

It's unclear whether the infection is the result of the student's experiments at the Boston University School of Medicine.

The school says the student got sick after working on a vaccine for a bacteria called neisseria meningitidis.

"It can cause meningitis, but if can also just cause an infection in the blood stream," said Dr. Anita Barry of the Boston Public Health Commission.

Dr. Barry said that the student did not have meningitis, but did have the infection in their blood stream.

Health officials inspected the lab.

"The inspection revealed that the lab had done just a super job of adhering to all of the policies and protocols and there were no noticeable violations," said Dr. Barbara Ferrer of the Boston Public Health Commission.

As a precaution, university officials have given antibiotic medication to other scientists.

The student is responding well to medications and is expected to make a full recovery.

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