An Oak Harbor High School student is out of intensive care at Children’s Hospital in Seattle after being diagnosed with bacterial meningitis Saturday.

Joey Johnson-Holcomb, a 14-year-old lineman on the freshman football team, may be able to go home in the next couple of days if he continues to improve as expected.

“He was very lucky,” his mother, Nancy Holcomb, said. “He started antibiotics early, so he didn’t get as severe a case as most people get.”

Meanwhile in Oak Harbor, public health officials and school officials worked over the weekend to find out, and notify, who had possible contact with the teenager. Since Johnson-Holcomb is a football player, many of those contacted are teammates.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid in the spinal cord and fluid that surrounds the brain. It can be caused by a viral or a bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis is more serious. Severe cases can result in brain damage, hearing loss or learning disability, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Throughout the weekend, public health nurses contacted nearly 80 people who may have had contact with student. Roger Case, health officer for Island County, said that six or seven students, as well as the boy’s family members, were given prophylactic antibiotics because they may have been exposed to the disease.

Johnson-Holcomb began feeling sick Thursday evening during a freshman football game against Stanwood High School at Memorial Stadium in Oak Harbor. Nancy Holcomb said her son was initially diagnosed in the emergency room at Island Hospital with a concussion, but returned to the doctor the next day because he had a fever, a headache, a rash and persistent vomiting. The doctor started him on antibiotics after he tested “borderline” for strep throat.

Holcomb said they returned to the ER Saturday morning and doctors finally diagnosed him with meningitis.

He was airlifted to Children’s Hospital before noon.

Nancy Holcomb said her son went through a frightening period of very low blood pressure and irregular heart rhythm from Sunday night into Monday, but was doing much better by Tuesday.

“He’s started giving me a hard time,” she said, “which is how I know he’s feeling better.”

Health officials first learned of the situation Saturday morning. Officials at Stanwood High School and at Arlington High School — where the freshman team is scheduled to play this week — have also been notified of the meningitis case, Case said.

Symptoms of meningitis include a high fever and a stiff neck. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, confusion and sleepiness, according to information from the CDC.

Health officials are informing students about the disease and how it’s spread.

“It’s a fairly common bacteria and, under the right circumstances, they can catch it,” Case said. He explained that many people carry the bacteria in their pharynxes (or mucus membranes), but they don’t “catch” bacterial meningitis unless their immune systems are somehow compromised. Once a person comes down with the disease, it becomes much more contagious because of the proliferation of the bacteria.

Meningitis is spread through direct contact that allows the passage of the bacteria. Such contact includes direct exposure through coughing and sneezing, sharing the same glass or bottle, using the same utensils, intimate contact and daily family home-living situations, according to information from Island County Health Department.

Case said the incubation period for the disease lasts between three and 10 days, but normally averages four days.

Holcomb said doctors may not be able to verify which strain of bacterial meningitis infected her son because the antibiotics “mask” the culture.

Meningitis has appeared in other schools throughout the region. Last year, 16 students at Mount Vernon High School contracted a mild form of meningitis.

Case said he was at Oak Harbor High School Monday handing out fliers to inform students of meningitis, how it spreads and the appropriate precautions to take.

Nevertheless, several parents of high school students contacted Tuesday didn’t know about the meningitis case.

Case added that doctors in the area have been notified of the incident. “What we have to do now is watch and advise the parents,” Case said. He credited the officials from the school district for their assistance in providing names of people who came into contact with the student.

Dwight Lundstrom, high school principal, said employees started work Saturday night to gather a list of names for the health department. He added that the locker rooms have been disinfected.

“We pretty well got it covered,” Lundstrom said. “We had to act quickly because of the nature of the disease.”

He didn’t have any information available on whether attendance has been affected by news of the disease since the school’s computer systems were down.

Rick Schulte, superintendent of the Oak Harbor School District, also said the school district is cooperating and following recommendations of the Island County Health Department.

“I think we got on top of this and stopped the spread pretty quickly,” Case said.

Schulte said that all athletic games will take place this week as scheduled.