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NAU student stricken with a rare type of meningitis has died

Posted at 3:42 PM, Sep 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-19 20:25:32-04

A Northern Arizona University student stricken with a rare type of meningitis has died.

The parents of Lianne Dennstedt announced Tuesday that their 19-year-old daughter died Monday night at a Flagstaff hospital.

The native of Murrieta, California, was starting her sophomore year at NAU as an environmental science major when she became ill with a severe sore throat.

Dennstedt soon was hospitalized with meningitis, double pneumonia and renal failure and fell into a coma.

Funeral plans are pending. Dennstedt's parents have started an online memorial fund for their daughter.

Her father is a 24-year veteran of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and her mother is vice president of the Western Municipal Water District's board of directors in Riverside, California.

NAU spokeswoman Kim Ott says Dennstedt's condition was not contagious.