WALTHAM, Mass. -- The second Bentley College student in five months has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. The student, who has not been identified, is in an intensive care unit.

NewsCenter 5’s Lynn Jolicoeur reported the student first went to the campus health clinic with a bad cold she couldn’t shake.

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But a Bentley spokeswoman said the Dean of Health Services asked campus police to take the student to the E.R., and after getting there, serious symptoms started.

Tests confirmed bacterial meningitis, a sickness that doctors say usually starts severely.

“It’s something that can make it a very difficult diagnosis to make at times, when it does present more atypically,” said Beth Israel emergency physician Dr. Peter Smulowitz. “Typically we’ll see patients who say they have a high fever. They have a severe headache. They’ll say their neck is very stiff or painful.”

Her family said she is improving.

"I think students are just frightened and want to make sure that student is OK,” said Bentley freshman Puja Shah.

The Bentley spokeswoman said the school was “very aggressive in tracking down anyone who had close contact with her.”

Two hundred students in contact with the girl were given antibiotics on Friday as a precaution, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

"I got sick at the time we found out about her and found out it's probably strep throat, so that was kind of relief,” said Bentley freshman George Bouton.

Bentley College freshman Erin Ortiz, 18, died from bacterial meningitis in October 2007. The school said the two cases are not related.

Bacterial meningitis is spread through contact with saliva.