MIAMI -- The Florida Department of Health has confirmed a case of bacterial meningitis in a Seminole Elementary School kindergartener.

Video

Elementary School Student Diagnosed With Meningitis

School officials are working with the health department to inform parents and to outline preventive measures for the school community.

Letters have been sent home to parents whose children may have been in close contact with the infected student -- with another letter going out to the general school population. An emergency meeting was also held this morning to inform parents about the situation.

The infected child has 23 classmates that she may have been in close contact with.

The little girl who was diagnosed with meningitis has missed only the last two days of school. She is in a hospital in the intensive care unit.

MENINGITIS What Is Meningitis? Frequently Asked Questions SYMPTOMS High fever Headache Stiff neck Nausea/Vomiting Sleepiness Confusion WEB SITES FAQs Recovery Statistics Symptoms In Children National Meningitis Assoc.

The health department will be monitoring all of the children who may have come in contact with the girl. Parents of those children are being urged to take their children to their own physicians for preventative medications.

Bacterial meningitis is a severe infection of the blood stream or the thin lining covering the brain and spinal cords.

Symptoms include the following:

Fever
Headache
Vomiting
Stiff neck
Rash
Sleepiness
Confusion

The school's principal says students will be monitored closely for those symptoms.

For more on meningitis, symptoms and treatment, click here