Woman Dies Of Meningitis After Tongue Piercing*

20-Year-Old Scituate Woman Worked At Local Pub

POSTED: 4:08 pm EST November 21, 2007
UPDATED: 4:33 pm EST November 21, 2007

BOSTON -- A young Scituate woman has died of meningitis after getting an
infection from a tongue piercing.

Kate Donovan, 20, went to the hospital after her tongue started to get
infected from the piercing. She died on Monday, according to family friends.

Donovan was an employee at Jamie's Pub in Scituate.

Bacterial infections, including meningitis, can be a complication from
tongue piercing, according to the Web site WebMD.com.

Meningitis is an infection of the tissue that surrounds the brain and
spinal cord. Symptoms of meningitis may appear suddenly and include:
fever, severe and constant headache, stiff neck or neck pain, nausea and
vomiting and rash.