Sept. 18, 2005
ATLANTA–Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, hospitalized since Saturday morning, has been diagnosed with viral meningitis and is expected to remain at Emory Hospital until Monday.
Viral meningitis is an illness that is commonly found in college environments and is not to be confused with the more serious bacterial meningitis. Ball’s condition does not require quarantine and presents no danger to his teammates or the Tech community.
Ball, a junior from Stone Mountain, Ga., first became ill Friday morning and was treated at the Georgia Tech Student Health Center. While at the team hotel Friday night, his condition did not improve and he was taken to Emory Hospital Saturday morning.
He is expected to remain at Emory Sunday night, primarily as a precaution, and then be discharged Monday. From there he will be treated symptomatically on a day-to-day basis.
Ball’s return to practice is uncertain at this time, and his status for Saturday’s game at fourth-ranked Virginia Tech game is questionable.
“We obviously will take every precaution before allowing Reggie to return to practice,” said Tech head coach Chan Gailey.
The illness snapped a string of 27 consecutive starts for Ball, the 5-11, 195-pounder who passed for a career-high 320 yards last week against North Carolina. Ball was replaced by redshirt freshman Taylor Bennett, who threw for 142 yards and one touchdown in his first collegiate action to help Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) to a 28-13 victory over Connecticut.
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