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AAP News Vol. 13 No. 9 September 1997, p. 2 © 1997 American Academy of Pediatrics
Water bottle sharing, combined with the timing of football season, could place high school football players at risk for meningitis, a Pittsburgh review suggested. According to researchers' hypotheses, football players are at risk for meningitis because of: the concurrence of football games with peak enterovirus season; frequent physical contact; greater physical exertion as compared with other athletes; and head contact. Pediatricians should be alert to symptoms such as fever, headache, neck or back stiffness, light sensitivity, and mental states ranging from lethargy to coma among football players, the researchers suggested.
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