A female student at Free State High School is sick with viral meningitis, a preliminary diagnosis a week after a player on the school’s freshman football team had come down with the same sickness.

Parents of Free State students have been informed via e-mail about the latest case, reminding everyone to be vigilant about washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes and otherwise employing good-hygiene practices as the illness makes the rounds.

“It’s like a cold or a flu: The germs are being coughed and sneezed around,” said Julie Boyle, spokeswoman for Lawrence public schools. “Anyone could pick them up.”

Symptoms of viral meningitis include fever, severe headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to bright light, sleepiness and nausea. Because the symptoms often are the same as for bacterial meningitis — which is considered much more serious, and can lead to disability or death if not treated promptly — anyone with such symptoms is urged to contact a physician as soon as possible.

Viral meningitis is relatively common, although many people exposed to the virus that causes it — such as those for chicken pox, shingles or even flu — never show symptoms. The illness generally clears up within two weeks, according to the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

“It’s not anything to be alarmed about,” Boyle said. “We just want people to be aware of the symptoms, and if their kids have symptoms to take them to the doctor, just to be sure.”